Pfl 6271 
.C2 A3 
1920 
Copy 1 



PA 

CaA2> 



LAUS PISONIS 



A THESIS 

PRESENTED TO TH I LTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 

OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



iu 



GLADYS MARTIN 



11117 




Class 

Book -G/&A3 



LAUS PISONIS 



A THESIS 

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



By 
GLADYS MARTIN 



1917 






MAR 261921 

OOCL 



The author is sincerely grateful to 

Professor C. E. Bennett, of Cornell University, 

for his interest and generous assistance during 

the preparation of this thesis. 



INTRODUCTION 
Manuscripts and Editions 

The editio princeps of the Laus Pisonis was published 
by J. Sichard in his edition of Ovid, Basel 1527, vol. 2, 
pp. 546-549. According, to his statement in the 
preface of this edition he made use of a manuscript in 
the monastery of Lorsch, at Mannheim, and in this old 
manuscript the poem was attributed to Vergil: 'ne 
vero sine corollario aliquo ad te veniret, adiecimus 
vulgaris omnium editionibus ex vetustissimis codicibus, 
quibus sumus ex bibliotheca Laurissana usi, fragmenta 
quaedam Ovidii ex libris opinor Epigrammaton, sic enim 
a Prisciano citantur, atque elegant issimum carmen 
incerti quidem autoris, sed quod extra controversiam 
sit vetustissimi alicuius: siquidem ad Pisonem id est 
scriptum, eum opinor, ad quern et Horatii ars poetica 
extat; quod quamuis ab Ovidii dictione nonnihil 
abhorreat, et in vetusto codice falso erat Maroni ascrip- 
tum, iudicavimus tamen dignum, ut inter Ovidiana 
locum sortiretur atque hoc demum pacto ab interitu 
vindicaretur'. 

In 1556 Hadrianus Junius edited the poem, in his 
Animadversor. Libri sex, with the help of a certain 
codex Atrebatensis in which the title was given: Lucani 
poema ad Calpurnium Pisonem ex libro Catalecton. 
Verses 72-83, according to Sichard's arrangement, were 
placed at the end of the poem in the edition of Junius. 

Of the codex Atrebatensis, used by Junius, and of the 
Lorsch manuscript, used by Sichard, we have no further 
history. A late codex Varsaviensis was collated by 



Martyni-Laguna and his notes were added to the 
Wernsdorf edition. 1 But Martyni-Laguna himself, 
according to Wernsdorf (p. 860) recognized that this 
manuscript was of little worth: 'adhibuit praeterea 
excerpta ex libro chartaceo manu scripto, in bibliotheca 
quadam Varsaviensi reperto, qui partem Catalectorum 
Ovidii, quae Goldastus edidit, in iisque carmen ad 
Pisonem, nullo auctoris nomine adscripto, continebat: 
cui quidem ipse vir doctus parum tribuit, quod recentem 
admodum et inscite scriptum esse vidit'. This codex 
appears to have followed largely the text of Sichard, 
though it has the verse arrangement of the codex 
Atrebatensis . In those cases where its readings differ 
from the traditional readings they are for the most part 
corrupt. 

E. Baehrens 2 mentions a manuscript of the 16th cen- 
tury which was examined by him and condemned as of 
no worth, the poem being taken, as in the codex Var- 
saviensis, from the editions of Junius and Sichard: 
'neque qui integrum carmen continent codices Var- 
saviensis chartaceus a Martyni-Laguna conlatus et 
Marucellianus A. CLVI saeculi XVI a me inspectus 
ullum habent pretium, utpote e Sichardi Juniique 
editionibus descripti'. 

From the text established by Sichard and Junius the 
poem was published in various editions of Ovid, Lucan, 
and Vergil. Jos. Scaliger edited the poem in his Publii 
Virgilii Maronis Appendix, 1573, under the title 
M. Annaei Lucani ad Calpumium Pisonem P. 
guricum. He states that the title found in his manu- 
script was Lucani Catalecton De Laude Pisonis 3 . He 



J P. L. M. vol. 4. pp. 861-868. 
•P. L. M. vol. 1. p. 224. 
'Appendix p. 545. 

4 



does not indicate this manuscript by name but speaks 
of it now as scheda calamo exarata, now as manuscriptum, 
and now as codex. 1 Since his text follows that of 
Junius, which was radically different from the Sichard 
text, it appears that he used either the codex Atreba- 
tensis or a copy of the same. 

Of later editions the most important are the following : 
J. Ch. Wernsdorf, Poetae Lat. Min. vol. 4, Altenburg 
1785; J. Held, Incerti Auctoris ad Calpurn. Pis on. 
Carmen, Breslau 1831; C. Beck, Statii ad Calpurn. 
Pison. Poeniation, Ansbach 1835; N. E. Lemaire, 
Poetae Lat. Min., Paris 1824; C. F. Weber, Incerti 
Auctoris Carmen Panegyricum in Calpurn. Pison., 
Marburg 1859; E. Baehrens, Poetae Lat. Min. vol. 1, 
1879. To C. F. Weber we are indebted for perhaps the 
most extensive work done upon the Laus Pisonis. He 
has included in his edition not only a full critical appara- 
tus, based upon the readings of the various editions, but 
has taken up in the prolegomena a discussion of the 
problems connected with the poem as well as a history of 
MSS., so far as then known, and of editions. He has 
also published in the Indices Lectionum, Marb. 1860/61, 
a discussion of some of the difficult passages in the first 
half of the poem. In his edition Weber followed the 
text of Sichard as being the original source. He 
admitted, however, that the genuine antiquity of the 
poem might be doubted for a number of reasons, among 
them the fact that it existed in no old manuscript : *et 
profecto si quis id agat, ut panegyricum nostrum non 
antiquitus, sed recens scriptum demonstret, me sibi 
accedentem habet et compluria ad sententiam suam 
confirmandam invenerit . . . denique MSS. dubi- 

^ppendix pp. 545-6. 



tationem de antiquitate panegyrici excitare possunt, 
quum neque supersit nobis MS., quo panegyricus con- 
tinetur, neque pro certo stet carmen in codice vetustis- 
simo vel certe membranaceo unquam exaratum fuisse'. 
But since Weber's publication an almost indisputable 
argument for the antiquity of the poem has been gained 
by the discovery of excerpts of it in two Paris MSS. 
which, it is agreed, are not later than the 13th century. 
This has helped greatly to throw light upon the textual 
history of the Laus Pisonis and has made possible a 
more exhaustive study of it. The critical edition of 
Baehrens, Poetae Lat. Min. vol. 1, contains a collation of 
the poem as it is found in the MSS. 

These MSS., which are numbered as Parisinus- 
Thuaneus 7647 and Parisimis-Nostradamensis 17903 
(Notre Dame 188), are florilegia containing excerpts 
from a number of classical authors. Of our poem they 
contain: w. 1-13; 26-31; 37-40; 44-67; 77~8o; 
84-90; 94-145; 147-iSi; *55-*7o; r 73 : 176-184; 
188-189; 209-261. The MS. Parisinns-Nostradaiy - 
sis 17903 has been assigned to the first half of the 13th 
century, by competent critics. 1 The Laus Pisonis was 
first discovered in this MS. by K. L. Roth and a colla- 
tion was made with the Weber text. This collation was 
published by Wolfflin, Philol. 1861, pp. 340-344, from 
the records of Roth after his decease. A description of 
both MSS. is given by G. Meyneke in Rhcin. Mus. 1S70, 
p. 369. According to his opinion. MS. 7647 |is about 
half a century older than MS. 17903, and thus belongs 
to the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. 
MS. 7647 also has the original or older readings more 
frequently than MS. 17903, though the two MSS. are 



Wolfflin, Philol. 1861, p. 342. 
6 



apparently of common origin. In both MSS. excerpts 
from the Culex and the Aetna precede the Laus Pisonis. 
At the top of the page upon which the Laus Pisonis is 
found in MS. 7647, there stood Lucanus in catalecton. 
As a result of the top of the page being damaged it now 
reads, fol. 113a, . . . anus incatalecton, fol. 113b, 
Luc . . . in catalecton. 1 

Relation of the Codex Atrebatensis to the Paris 

MSS. 

At the beginning of the poem in both MSS. there 
stands this verse from the Ciris, 'nihil est quod texitur 
ordine longum' (v. 339). It is noteworthy that Scaliger 
comments upon the fact that this verse stood at the 
beginning of the poem in his MS. From this he 
inferred that the beginning of the poem was lacking: 2 
'videtur autem initium huic poematio deesse. Nam ita 
in manuscripto incipit. 

— nihil est, quod texas ordine, longum.' 
The title given by Junius and Scaliger as found in their 
MS. or MSS. is similar to that found in the Paris MSS., 
Lucanus in catalecton. But further than this the text 
established by Junius, and followed by Scaliger, is 
almost identical with that of our Paris MSS. The 
difference between the text of Junius and that of the 
editio princeps was so great that Wernsdorf 3 came to the 
conclusion that we had represented in our editions two 
recensions of the poem, while Weber 4 rightly divined 
that we had really a double family of MSS. as the source 



^aehrens, P. L. M. vol. 1. p. 223; Meyncke, Rhein. Mus. 1870, 

P- 3 78. 

2 Appendix, p. 546. 

3 P. L. M. vol. 4. p. 47. 

4 Proleg. p. 19. 

7 



of our text. One family is now represented by the 
Paris MSS. and the text of Junius, the other by the 
editio princeps. Out of the many instances in which the 
Paris MSS. differ from the text of Sichard, by far the 
larger proportion are supported by the reading of 
Junius. 1 Junius placed w. 72-83, according to Sichard's 
arrangement, at the end of the poem, while in the flori- 
legia w. 77-80 are found at the end, w. 68-77 and 80-83 
being omitted. 

From these various points of agreement, which are 
too important to be mere coincidences, it is evident that 
Junius and Scaliger must have used a MS. similar to 
the one from which the excerpts were made. It has 
been suggested by Wolrnin 2 that the MS. used by 
Junius was nothing more than a norilegium of the same 
sort as the Paris florilegia. In favor of this may be 
mentioned the fact that the text of Junius follows that 
of the excerpts in several cases where the excerpts after 
omitting a few verses begin anew with a wording which 
differs slightly from the text of Sichard, .and which 
might possibly have been arranged to cover the omis- 
sion. 3 So also in favor of this theory may be cited the 
presence of the verse from the Ciris at the beginning of 
the poem in the MS. used by Scaliger. In the case of 
an excerpt this might be accounted for in the following 
fashion : such excerpts were probably made from a M S . 
containing the complete works of the various authors 
with the selections to be copied by the scribe noted on 



*See tables below. 

2 Philol. 1 861, p. 34^- 

•v. 26 tamen etsi, Paris MSS., nee enim si, Sichard; v. 37 quaeque 
patrum claros quondam, Paris MSS., sed quae Pisonum claros,. 
Sichard; v. 173 ipse fidem movisse ferox, Paris MSS., sic movisse 
fides saevus, Sichard. 

8 



the margin; 1 since excerpts from the Culex and the 
Aetna precede the Laus Pisonis in the Paris MSS. it 
might appear that excerpts from the Ciris also were to 
be included but that in some way through the careless- 
ness of the scribe only this one verse survived. The 
verse is not the complete hexameter but only so much 
as forms a complete thought. I am inclined to think it 
possible that the explanation given by Wernsdorf, 2 
though not based upon a knowledge of the Paris excerpt, 
is the correct one, 'sed merum hoc glossema est librarii, 
qui hoc hemistichium in Ciri Virgiliana, ubi versu 339 
extat, legerat, et quod respondere sententiae primi 
versus reperiebat, commodum putabat superscribere'. 
Thus the verse might have arisen in the archetype of 
this family of MSS. 

Baehrens has expressed the opinion that the codex 
Atrebatensis used by Junius was actually Par. 7647 or a 
copy of it. 3 This he deduces from the fact that there 
are corrections in the margin of this norilegium by some 
hand of the 16th century and that Junius almost always 
follows these corrections where they differ from the 
reading of the first hand in both florilegia. But these 
corrections are in most cases necessary corrections, 
taken from the reading of Sichard. Such corrections 
would naturally be made by Junius, in editing the poem, 
and also by the 16th century scribe. As a proof of the 
fact that Junius could not have used the MSS. which 
we have in our possession to-day I cite the reading of 
v. 52 . This verse was incomplete in the text of Sichard, 
being marked with an asterisk, but other editions, not 
excluding those of Junius and Scaliger, have the impos- 



x See Meyncke, Rhein. Mus. 1870, p. 374. 
2 P. L. M. vol. 4, p. 46. 
3 P. L. M. vol. 1, p. 224. 

9 



sible reading torquet in auras. The Paris MSS. alone 
offer what is apparently the original reading succutit 
arte. If Junius and Scaliger had had this reading at 
their command they would not have retained the mean- 
ingless torquet in auras. 

In about seven instances Junius appears to have a 
reading which is not found in the Sichard text or the 
Paris MSS. These are: v. 36 vigente; v. 69 reticente; 
v. 79 et Aedonia; v. 126 munerat; v. 1S2 flectis; v. 228 
ferat; v. 261 aestas (v. 113 diligis, v. 170 otia, v. 239 
Varium, are minor corrections) . For four of these read- 
ings we can not tell what the archetype of our Paris 
MSS. had, since vigente and reticente occur in the verses 
omitted by the excerpts, while there is a lacuna in the 
place of the verb munerat, v. 126, and also of flectis, v. 
182. But all of these readings except munerat, v. 126, 
and ferat, v. 228, are found in a previous edition, the 
Lugdunensis secunda, an edition of Ovid published in 
1550. This edition, while having, so far as we know, 
only the text of Sichard as its source, has in at least 
seven cases corrections of the Sichard text which agree 
with the reading of the Paris MSS. These are: v. 88 
compositisquc; v. 101 insigni; v. 126 pndibundos; v. 
158 decebunt; v. 213 et hoc (Paris MSS. ct iiec); v. 23S 
gestit; v. 242 Horati. The editor was either gifted with 
an especial talent for emendation or else he had at hand 
a manuscript of the same family as codex A and the 
Paris MSS. and of this made use only where the Sichard 
text was faulty. His corrections of the Sichard text 
wherever they occur in the verses included in the 
excerpts are supported by the reading of the excerpts 
with three exceptions : v. 79 c/ Pandionia, Paris MSS., 
et Aedonia, Lug. sec; v. 182 plectis, Paris MSS., flm 
Lug. sec; v. 261 aetas, Paris MSS., aestas, Lit£. 

10 



In two of these cases, w. 79, 261, the reading of the 
excerpts is corrupt and the Lugdunensis secunda has the 
better reading. Corrections due to this editor which 
occur in the verses omitted by the excerpts are vigente, 
v. 36, and reticente, v. 69. Of these two corrections 
reticente at least may be accepted as the correct reading. 
The text of Junius has the same corrections of the 
Sichard text which the Lugdunensis secunda has, and 
follows the text of our Paris MSS. It is possible that 
Junius used an excerpt of the same sort as the Paris 
MSS. and supplied the omitted verses from the Lugdu- 
nensis secunda. But we have shown that the Lugdu- 
nensis secunda itself agrees with the Paris MSS. in a 
number of instances. Furthermore in the excerpts it is 
only w. 77-80 (according to Sichard's arrangement) 
that occur at the end of the poem, while w. 68-77 an d 
w. 80-83 are omitted. If Junius had only a similar 
excerpt, which he supplemented with the text of the 
Lugdunensis secunda, he must on his own authority have 
transferred w. 72-77 and w. 80-83 to the end of the 
poem. It hardly seems probable that Junius would 
have failed to see the close relation between v. S^ and v. 
84 in the arrangement of Sichard. Weber has shown 
how the transposition of w. 72-83 to the end of the 
poem might have been brought about in the family of 
MSS. to which the codex Atrebatensis of Junius belongs. 
The archetype of this family had 12 verses upon each 
page, with the exception of the first which had only 1 1 
verses in addition to the title. Verses 72-83 would 
then occur upon the seventh page. The copyist may 
in some way have overlooked this page and have added 
the omitted verses at the end. This would explain the 
position of vv. 72-83 at the end of the poem in the text 
of Junius and also the position of w. 77-80 at the end of 

11 



the poem in the Paris excerpts. We are therefore 
brought to the conclusion that there are difficulties in 
the way of assuming that the codex Atrebatensis was 
merely an excerpt, similar to the Paris MSS., and that 
it is quite possible that it was a MS. containing the 
complete poem. This MS. was of course a MS. of the 
same family as that from which the excerpts of the poem 
were made. 



Agreement in the Readings of Codex A and the 
Paris MSS. 

The number of cases is large in which the codex 
Atrebatensis, as represented by the text of Junius, and 
the Paris MSS. have the same reading as against an 
entirely different reading in the editio princeps. The 
list is as follows : 



1 


Codex A. Paris MSS. 


Sichard 


V. 


10 cui - 


- si 


V. 


ii nobilitas 


- gentis honos 


V. 


12 felix - 


- at tu 


V. 


26 tamen ctsi 


- nee cnim si 


V. 


27 non pcriit 


- occidit et 


V. 


30 hinc contingit 


- hie continget 


V. 


37 quacquc patrum 


- sed q: 


V. 


44 tit (quoqite) Pi so 


- dura Piso nam 


V. 


45 ducis 


- tentas 


V. 


46 victor - 


ictus 


V. 


47 iubcs 


- libet 


v. 


4S quam 


- si 


V. 


62 dulcia 


- dulci 


V. 


77 sed nee 


- sic N 


V. 


88 compositisque 


- compos itusqtte 


V. 


98 permulcere - 


- perfulcire 



12 



Codex A. Paris MSS. 



Sickard 



v. 101 insigm 

v. 113 clientum 

v. 126 pudibundos - 

v. 128 ista procul labes 

v. 140 nee - 

v. 142 nee - 

v. 151 nimbis 

v. 158 decebunt 

v. 159 orbem 

v. 173 ipse fidem movisse ferox 

v. 183 0/ wwnc 

v. 21$ et 

v. 221 impulerit (impulerint) 

v. 237 nomina 

v. 238 ges/w - 

v. 239 eue## 

v. 239 toantis 

v. 242 Horatii 

v. 245 wow unquam 



msignis 

colentum 

pudibundus 

ipse procul livor 

non 

non 

nubibus 

docebunt 

aevum 

sic movisse fides 

nunc quoque 

ut 

impulerant 

numina 

caestu 

erexit 

tonantis 

Arati 

nonnumquam 



Codex A and the Paris MSS. have been cited as agreeing 
wherever the reading of Codex A is found in either MS. 
In only three cases in the above list do the Paris MSS. 
differ from each other. In v. 47 Par. 7647 has iubes, 
Par. 17903, iubet; v. 113 Par. 7647 clientum, Par. 17903 
colentum; v. 158 Par. 7647 docebunt, Par. 17903 decebunt. 

Divergences in the Readings of Codex A and the 
Paris MSS. 

The number of divergences in the readings of codex 
A and the Paris MSS. is few in comparison with the 
number of cases wherein they agree. We must bear in 



13 



mind the fact that Junius would not follow his MS. 
absolutely but would adopt other readings where it 
seemed best. If we had codex A the number of differ- 
ences would probably be still less. J. Maehly in 
Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 287 has enumerated some of 
the main differences but his comparison was based only 
upon the readings of MS. 17903. 1 MS. 7647 more fre- 
quently has the original readings and in several instances 
agrees with codex A where MS. 17903 diverges from it. 
A list of the cases where the reading of codex A is found 
in neither MS. is as follows: 2 



Codex A 
v. 12 tantis - 
v. 28 munera 
v. 38 olim 

v. 52 tor quel in auras 
v. 58 lingua 
v. 79 et Aedonia 
v. 94 hinc 
v. 95 hinc 

v. 120 illic . . . mens 
v. 122 sed later i nullus 
v. 131 ut 
v. 143 nervo - 
V. 170 securus 
v. 176 extudit 
v. 178 anna tuis . . . 



lacertis 



Paris MSS. 
Claris 
munia 
omnes 
succutit arte 
d extra 

et Pandionia 
huic 
huic 

illi . . . dotn 
}iullus iam lateri 
et 
fcrro 

<.ris 

exculit, extulit 
armatos . . . lacertos 



'His list, besides being incomplete, is incorrect in the following 
instances: v. 28 munia A, munera P should be munera A, munia 
P; so also v. 38 omnis A, olim P should be olim A, omnes P; v. 140 
non P should be nee P (according to Baehrens' collation) ; v. 237 
notnina. is the reading of both A and P. 

'Differences which are merely orthographic are not included. 



14 



Codex A Paris MSS. 

v. 1 80 captare ... raptare 

v. 188 ludos - lusus 

v. 216 meliora ... maiora 

v. 228 ferat - gmtf 

v. 229 dimittere - demittere 

v. 261 a^as ... a^as 

Most of these differences arise from the fact that the 
reading of the Paris MSS. is either impossible or very 
poor in comparison with that of the Sichard text. 
Junius naturally did not follow his codex in such cases. 

C. Calpurnius Piso 

The author of the Laus Pisonis has given us few facts, 
other than the name Calpurnius Piso, by which we may 
identify the person who is the object of his praises. 
J. Sichard, editor of the editio princeps, expressed the 
opinion that the panegyric was addressed to that Piso to 
whom the A rs Poeticaoi Horace is addressed : l 'siquidem 
ad Pisonem id est scrip turn, eum opinor, ad quern et 
Horatii ars poetica extat'. This Piso was probably the 
L. Calpurnius Piso who was consul in 1 5 B. C. and whose 
death is recorded in Tacitus, A. 6. 10. But aside from 
the fact that his military achievements 2 would certainly 
have been praised by the author of the panegyric, the 
mention of Vergil, Varius, and Horace in v. 230, and 
following, shows that the poem is to be assigned to a 
considerably later date than the lifetime of Horace. 
The name of Maecenas, as we see from v. 248, has 
become almost proverbial. 



^vid. Oper. amat. vol. 1. praef. 
2 Tac. A. 6. 10. 

IS 



With regard to the public life of this Piso addressed by 
our poet only one fact is given which might serve as a 
clue to his identification. This is the mention in w. 
68-71 of the glory of theconsulship held by him. We have 
record of a number of the Pisones who were consuls after 
the time of Augustus, but upon investigation we feel that 
none can be the Calpurnius Piso whom we are seeking. 
In 27 A. D. a L. Calpurnius Piso was consul with 
M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, and in 57 A. D. another mem- 
ber of this family, L. Calpurnius Piso, was consul with 
the emperor Nero and was afterwards appointed pro- 
consul of Africa. Of these Weber 1 says: 'neuter talis 
fuit ut laudes panegyrici nostri mereret; nihil certe 
praeclari de iis constat'. L. Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, 
who was adopted by the emperor Galba as his son and 
successor but killed by the soldiers of Otho, is recorded 
as a youth of great integrity and morality 2 . He, how- 
ever, had the name of Calpurnius only by adoption, 
being the son of M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, and was not 
a consul. C. Beck believed the recipient of the pane- 
gyric to be the Calpurnius Piso who is mentioned by 
Pliny. Ep. 5. 1 7. as displaying such affection toward his 
brother and who, according to Beck, is to be identified 
with the Calpurnius Piso who was consul under Trajan 
in in A. D. Since nothing further is known of either 
Piso, Beck's view has been rightly rejected as having 
nothing to recommend it. 

There remains to be considered only one Calpurnius 
Piso of importance. This is C. Calpurnius Piso, leader 
of the conspiracy against Xero in 65 A. D. It has been 
established by Wernsdorf 3 and Weber 4 , to the general 
satisfaction of scholars, that it is to him our panegyric 



'Proleg. p. 3. »P. L. M. vol. 4. p. 36. 

*Tac. H. 1. 14-15. 'Proleg. pp. 3 

16 



is addressed. There is a striking agreement between 
the description gathered from the panegyric and the 
description of this Piso as given by Tacitus, A. 15. 48: 
'is Calpurnio genere ortus ac mult as insignesque familias 
paterna nobilitate complexus, claro apud volgum 
rumor e erat per virtutem aut species virtutibus similes ; 
namque facundiam tuendis civibus exercebat, largi- 
tionem adversum amicos et ignotis quoque, comi ser- 
mone ac congressu; aderant etiam fortuita, corpus 
procerum, decora fades'. Here we have mentioned his 
nobility of race, his eloquence employed in defending 
fellow-citizens, his generosity, his gracious speech and 
address, his handsome countenance. All these are 
dwelt upon in the panegyric 1 . Furthermore we have 
the testimony of the scholiast to Juvenal, Sat. 5. 109, 
that this Calpurnius Piso was exceedingly skilled at the 
Indus latrunculorum: 'Piso Calpurnius, antiqua familia 
scenico habitu tragoedias actitavit. in latrunculorum 
lusu tarn perfectus et callidus ut ad eum ludentem con- 
curreretur. ob haec insinuatus Caio Caesari repente 
etiam relegatus est, quod consuetudinem prist inae 
uxoris abductae sibi ab ipso, deinde remissae repetiisse 
existamabatur. mox sub Claudio restitutus et post 
consulatum materna hereditate ditatus magnificentissi- 
mus vixit, meritis sublevare inopes ex utroque ordine 
solitus, de plebe autem certos quotannis ad equestrem 
censum dignitatemque provehere'. In the panegyric 
there are devoted to Piso's skill at this game 19 verses, 
a number out of all proportion to the importance of the 
subject. It is possible that the scholiast may have 
drawn his knowledge as to this accomplishment of Piso 
from the panegyric itself; but if so it is evident that he 



: Cf. v. 3; v. 40; v. no; v. 129; v. 100. 
17 



too identified the recipient of the panegyric with the 
Calpurnius Piso of whom we are speaking. 

About the history of this Piso quite a little is known. 
He was deprived of his bride Orestilla by the emperor 
Caligula in 37 A. D. and two years later was banished. 1 
He was restored by the emperor Claudius, as we learn 
from the scholiast to Juvenal (quoted above) , probably 
soon after the beginning of his reign. His name appears 
in the Acta Arvalium for the years 38 and 40, before his 
banishment, and later at various times up to the year 
63 A. D. He was the leader of a formidable conspiracy 
against Nero in 65 A. D. and upon its discovery opened 
his veins and died. 2 

The scholiast to Juvenal also bears witness to the fact 
that this Calpurnius Piso was consul, though his name 
does not appear in the Fasti. Wernsdorf 3 and Weber 4 
have proposed, with reason, that Piso was a consul 
stifectus. From the Augustan period down to the last 
centuries of the empire the consuls did not retain the 
consulship for a full year but only for a few months. 
The consuls who entered upon their office at the be 
ning of the year were regarded as consoles ordinarii and 
gave their names to the year. The others, the consults 
sujfccti, were also entered in the Fasti, though at times 
a name was likely to be passed over and omitted. It 
seems quite probable that C. Calpurnius Piso was a 
consul suffectus and that in some way his name was 
dropped from the Fasti. The testimony of the scho' 
to Juvenal is in itself to be considered of some weight. 
The statement of this scholiast as to the restoration of 
Piso under Claudius is derived from an unknown source, 



•Suet. Cal. 25; Dio Cass. 49. 8. 5 P. L. M. vol. 4- I 

2 Tac. A. 14.65; 15. 4$-59- 4 Proleg. p. 5. 

iS 



but one apparently trustworthy since it fits with the 
historical evidence which we have. The scholiast's 
knowledge of the consulship may have been drawn from 
the same source. 

The year in which Piso was consul suffectus is of course 
a matter of conjecture. Wernsdorf accepted the 
opinion of Onuphrius Panvinius 1 who placed the consul- 
ship in the year 45 A. D. Weber 2 points out that if 
Piso entered upon the consulship in this year at the 
legal age of 43 he would seem somewhat old to be the 
leader of the conspiracy in 65 A. D. Weber is in favor 
of the year 57 A. D. in which year L. Calpurnius Piso 
was consul with the emperor Nero. He suggests that 
C. Calp. Piso took the placeof Nero, as consul suffectus, 
and that in sharing the consulship with the other Piso 
his name has gone down to oblivion. If C. Calp. Piso 
were 43 in this year he would have been 5 1 at the time 
of his death in 65 A .D. This explanation of Weber's 
is ingenious. But we can only say that the exact year 
in which C. Calpurnius Piso was consul must remain in 
doubt. 

Date of the Laus Pisonis 

The date of the Laus Pisonis can clearly be no later 
than 65 A.D. in which year occurred the death of the 
C. Calpurnius Piso whom we have identified with the 
greatest probability as being the recipient of the panegyric . 
With this in view we may accept the conclusion of W. S. 
Teuffel 3 who has pointed out that, since the example of 
Nero is not mentioned among the examples cited in 
justification of Piso's playing upon the lyre (w. 166- 
177), Nero had evidently not yet appeared publicly 

^asti 2. p. 200. 

2 Proleg. p. 6. 8 R6m. Lit. 6 vol. 2, p. 280. 

19 



upon the stage as a musician. This public appearance 
of Nero's took place in 59 A. D. 1 The poem must then 
have been composed, not necessarily before the begin- 
ning of Nero's reign, but before the year 59 A. D. The 
year in which C. Calpurnius Piso held the consulship 
can hardly have been earlier than 45 A. D., and was 
probably some years later. The poem may be dated as 
falling approximately within the years 45-59 A. D. 

Author of the Laus Pisonis 

We have two manuscript traditions as to the author 
of the Laus Pisonis. J. Sichard, editor of the editio 
princeps, testifies that in the MS. from which he edited 
the poem it was attributed to Vergil 2 . In the manu- 
script of Junius the poem was entitled Lucani poema ad 
Calpurnium Pisoncm ex libro Catalecton, and similarly 
in the Paris MS. 7647 the poem was inscribed Litcanus 
in catalecton? On the ground of internal evidence the 
poem can not be assigned to Vergil 4 . Sichard, recogniz- 
ing this fact, judged that the poem belonged with cer- 
tain O vidian fragments found in the same MS. and 
published it in his Ovidii opera amatoria. The poem 
thereafter was published in various editions of Ovid, 
and, following the publication of Junius, in editions of 
Lucan. 

That Ovid can no more be the author than Vergil, is 
evident from the approximate date of the poem. 5 
Wernsdorf 6 has endeavored to prove that the poem 
should be attributed to Saleius Bassus for the following 
reasons : (1) the author of the panegyric was evidently 



*See Tac. A. 14. 14-15. 

2 See Introd. p. ;>. 8 See above. 

3 See Introd. pp. 3 and 7. 6 P. L. M. vol. 4. pp. 39-45 } 



20 



of slender means (v. 255). Saleius Bassus was so 
widely known as a poverty stricken poet that Juvenal, 
7. 80, speaks of him as tenuis Saleius, while Tacitus tells 
how his wants were relieved by Vespasian, Dial. 9, 
'laudavimus nuper ut miram et eximiam Vespasiani 
liberalitatem, quod quingenta sestertia Basso donasset' ; 
(2) the poetical talent of Saleius Bassus is highly praised 
in Tac. Dial. 5/ quis enim nescit neminem mihi coniunc- 
tiorem esse et usu amicitiae et assiduitate contubernii 
quam Saleium Bassum, cum optimum virum turn abso- 
lutissimum poetam?' and in Dial. 9, 'quis Saleium 
nostrum, egregium poetam vel, si hoc honorificentius 
est, praeclarissimum vatem, deducit aut salutat aut 
prosequitur?'; the talent revealed by the panegyric is 
such as to give promise of the poet's becoming absolu- 
tissimus poeta or praeclarissimus vales; (3) the date of 
Saleius' life falls in the correct period since Quint ilian, 
Inst. 10. 1. 90, indicates that in his lifetime Saleius was 
an old man, and the years of his youth would therefore 
have been passed in the reign of Claudius. 

These arguments of Wernsdorf have carried no weight. 
As 1 ards the lifetime of Saleius Bassus, the words of 
Quintilian are obscure and offer no positive evidence: 
'vehrmens et poeticum ingenium Saleii Bassi fuit, nee 
ipsum <.nectus maturavit'. This is thought to signify 
that Bassus died young before his powers were ripened 
by years rather than that he was an old man at the time 
of Quintilian. Furthermore we are not justified in 
identifying our poet with Saleius Bassus merely on the 
ground of a common poverty. 

Following the suggestion of Barth 1 and of Ouden- 
dorp, 2 C. Beck 3 has ascribed the authorship of the Laus 

Ho Stat. Sil. 5. 2. p. 456. 2 adnot. 10. ad Luc. vit. 

3 Statii ad Calpurn. Pison. Poemation. 
21 



Pisonis to P. Papinius Statius. He contends that what 
our poet says of his non humilis domus and tenuis fortuna 
(w. 254-5) agrees with what we know of the home and 
fortune of Statius. He cites Stat. S. 5. 3. 116: 

'non tibi deformes obscuri sanguinis ortus 

nee sine luce genus, quamquam fortuna parentum 

artior expensis'. 

Juv. 7. 82-7: 

'curritur ad vocem iucundam et carmen amicae 
Thebaidos, laetam cum fecit Statius urbem 
promisitque diem; tanta dulcedine captos 
afficit ille animos, tantaque libidine vulgi 
auditur; sed cum f regit subsellia versu, 
esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendit Agaven.' 

For the words of our poet to agree with those of 
Statius it is necessary to adopt the conjecture non 
humilis instead of the manuscript reading nos humilis. 
This conjectural reading seems necessary to the sequence 
of thought in w. 2 54-5 .* A further point of agreement 
Beck finds in the mention of Naples in w. 91-2 of the 
panegyric. Statius was a native of Naples and fre- 
quently alludes to his native city and its Euboean origin. 
But Naples was also a favorite place of residence of 
Silius Italicus. On such grounds Beck might just as 
well identify the panegyrist with Silius Italicus. Since 
Naples was distinguished as . 'the Greek city' it is 
natural that it should be cited by our poet as a witness 
to Piso's fluency in Greek. Although the exact date 
of the birth of Statius is unknown, his works v 
published between 92 and 95 A. D. He could hardly 
be identified with the author of the panegyric who, as a 



1 See note to v. 254. 

22 



youth of 19, was entering upon a literary career in the 
last years of the reign of Claudius or in the first years of 
Nero's reign. The opinion of Beck has therefore been 
generally rejected by scholars. 1 

M. Haupt 2 first set forth the theory that Calpurnius 
Siculus, author of the Eclogues, was the unknown 
author of the panegyric. This theory was suggested, as 
Haupt explains, by the similarity of the language in the 
Eclogues and the panegyric, and by the fact that the 
author of the Eclogues is called Calpurnius while the 
panegyric is addressed to Calpurnius: 'sed cum mira- 
bilis esse videretur versuum arte plane singulari fac- 
torum in bucolicis Calpurnii et in laudatione Pisonis 
similitudo, orationis etiam quaedam in dissimilibus 
carminum generibus adpareret convenientia, poetam 
autem iuvenem et pauperem bucolica non minus quam 
laudatio Pisonis ostenderent, et praeterea mirum esset 
poetam bucolicum vocari Calpurnium, Pisonem qui 
altero illo carmine laudatur esse C. Calpurnium 
Pisonem, et mihi et prius, quantum memini, Carolo 
Lachmanno quicum communicaveram quae de artifi- 
ciosis Calpurnii versibus dicere poteram, nata est sus- 
picio Calpurnium bucolicorum scrip torem, scripsisse 
etiam illam laudationem'. Haupt bases his theory 
upon the supposition that the author of the panegyric 
was not only aided in a pecuniary way but adopted by 
the Calpurnius whom he addresses. 3 When at a later 
date the Eclogues were published they were inscribed 
with the adopted name of the poet. The Meliboeus 
addressed in the Eclogues must then be the Calpurnius 
Piso addressed in the panegyric. Haupt cites certain 



^ee Lehrs' Quaestiones Epicae p. 305; Haupt, Opus. 1. p. 391; 
Weber, proleg. pp. 12-13. 

2 Opus. 1. p. 391. 3 See Opus. pp. 391-2. 

23 



metrical similarities in the panegyric and the Eclogues, 
which, he thinks, point to identity of authorship. 
nescio is used with a short o in the panegyric, v. 252, and 
this usage is admitted also by Calpurnius. Both poets 
admit the caesura after the fourth trochee, and use 
elision only infrequently. 1 

Haupt's theory as to the author of the Laus Pisonis 
has been accepted and championed by various scholars. 
Th Birt, 2 on the basis of brief metrical investigations, is 
inclined to think that the metrical art of the panegyric 
agrees with that of the Eclogues, though he concludes 
with the statement 'tamen ad certum coniecutura non 
corroboratur de Calpurnio Panegyrici auctore'. E. 
Trampe 3 finds a similarity between the panegyric and 
the Eclogues in the use of monosyllabic conjunctions in 
the third and fourth arses, and pronounces it as certain 
that Calpurnius is the author of the Laus Pisonis. 

Schcnkl, in his Calpurmi ct Xancsiani Bucolica, praef. 
pp. 1-1 5, endeavors to support the theory of Haupt with 
stronger arguments. These arguments are based upon 
(1) similarity of thought and expression in the Eclogues 
and panegyric, (2) frequent use of same or similar 
w < «rds, such as contingo and pagina and of adjectives in 
-bilis, (3) the fact that in the Paris MSS. the excerpts of 
the Eclogues follow immediately after the panegyric, 
(4) similarities in versification. As similar passages, 
Schenkl compares Pan. v. 46 with Eel. 1. 13 and Eel. 6. 
35 ; Pan. v. 109 ff. with Eel. 4. 33 ; and Pan. v. 235 ff.with 
Eel. 4. 39 ff. With regard to the versification of Calpur- 



1 There ar • in all only 4 elisions in the 261 verses of the pane- 
gyric, (v. 14, v. 24, v. 8l, v. 168) and 10 in the 758 verses of the 
Eclogues. 

! Ad Historiam Hexametri Latini Symbola, p. 63. 

s De Lucani Arte Metrica, pp. 47-8, p. 

M 



nius he notes that there is no elision of vowels except 
short vowels and those always in the first foot of the 
hexameter. With one exception (Eel. 3. 82) these 
elisions occur after the first syllable of the first foot. In 
the panegyric the two examples of elision 1 are of the 
same sort, except that in one case a long vowel is elided. 
Schenkl carries still further the metrical investigations 
of Birt by fixing the relative order of the panegyric and 
single eclogues as determined by the frequency of use 
of the caesura after the third foot of the hexameter, a 
double caesura after the first and second trochees, etc. 
These calculations are, however, of negative value in 
establishing the identity of the two authors. While 
Schenkl defends Haupt's theory in general, he suggests 
that Calpurnius Siculus, instead of being a poet of 
different name adopted by Calpurnius Piso, was rather 
the son of a freedman of the Calpurnian gens. 2 

Although the supposition of Haupt has been thus 
supported and continues to be accepted as probable by 
some, 3 such strong arguments have been advanced 
against it by G. Ferrara in a treatise entitled Calpurnio 
Siculo e il panegyrico a Calpurnio Pisone that Schenkl 
himself admits that it must be given up. 4 Ferrara first 
takes into consideration the arguments of Haupt and 
Schenkl. While the author of the panegyric and the 
author of the Eclogues both admit the caesura after the 
fourth trochee, the percentage of instances in the pane- 
gryic is lower than in any single eclogue. According to 

Schenkl does not include necesse est, v. 14, and credibile est, 
v. 168. 

2 See praef . p. 9 

3 See Teuffel, Gesch. der rom. Lit. 1910; Butler, Post-Augustan 
Poetry, 1909. 

4 See Berl. Philol. Wochenschr. 1907, Sp. 841. 

25 



such considerations the panegyric is metrically more 
perfect than the Eclogues, a conclusion that is directly 
opposed to Haupt's theory. The Meliboeus of the 
Eclogues could hardly be C. Calpurnius Piso since from 
Eel. 4. 53 it appears that Meliboeus was an authority on 
the winds and weather : 

'nam tibi non tantum venturos discere nimbos, 
agricolis qualemque ferat sol aureus ortum, 
attribuere dei'. 
This does not agree with the knowledge which we have of 
C. Calpurnius Piso, as Haupt 1 himself admits, although 
he excuses the poet ' s statement thus : ' sed potuit aliquid 
propter pastoricium carmen dici quod in Pisonem non 
magnopere quadraret; nam cetera in eum accurate 
quadrant'. 

In order to show the extent of the similarity of thought 
and expression to be found in the Lans Pisonis and the 
Eclogues, Ferrara cites the following similar passages : 
Pan. v. 46 sequitur quocumque vocasti 
Eel. 1. 13 quo me cumque vocas, sequor 
6. 35 sequiturque vocantem 



Pan. v. 1 1 1 et subito iuvat indul^entia censu 
Eel. 4. 33 et tua nos alit indulgentia farre 



Pan. 214 f. quod si digna tua minus est mea pagina 
laude 

at voluisse sat est 
Eel. 4. 14 f. si non valet arte polita 

carminis, at certe valeat pietate probari 



Pan. 234 f. sterili tantum cantasset avena 

ignotus populis 
Eel. 4. 45 irrita septena modularer sibila canna 



^pus. 1. p. 392. 

26 



Pan. 37 visura triumphos 

Eel. 4. 90 visuraque saepe triumphos 



Pan. 248 tereti cantabere versu 

Eel. 4. 152 tereti decurrent carmina versu 

To several of these passages Ferrara further cites 
parallel expressions to be found in Vergil and Ovid, 
showing that the resemblances between the passages 
quoted from the panegyric and the Eclogues are not 
sufficient to carry with them the conviction that the 
author must be one and the same. 

As for the second argument of Schenkl, which had to do 
with the occurrence of the same words in the panegyric 
and the Eclogues, Ferrara notes that there are words 
used frequently in the Eclogues, such as memini and 
fateor, which do not occur, at all in the panegyric. 
Adjectives in -bills are, as Schenkl states, used fre- 
quently by both authors, but they are especially adapted 
to dactylic metre and are used frequently by Ovid. 
By a careful examination of the distribution of dactyls 
and spondees, and of adjectives and substantives in the 
hexameter Ferrara demonstrates the fact that there is no 
agreement in the metrical composition of the panegyric 
and of the Eclogues. 

The problem as to the author of the Laus Pisonis is 
then to-day as far from solution as ever. Owing to the 
general difference in style between the Laus Pisonis and 
the Pharsalia little credence has been placed in the 
attribution of the poem to Lucan by the codex Atreba- 
tensis and the Paris MS. (7647), although Lucan's right 
to the title was accepted by Richard Bentley, 1 Pieter 



J To Hor. C. 4. 6. 25. 

27 



Burman, 1 and Niklaas Heinsius. 2 Justus Lipsius 3 first 
raised serious objections to the acceptance of Lucan as 
author of the panegyric: 'ita in panegyrico illo ad 
Pisonem, qui hoc aevo scriptus, inserta eadem defensio 
v. 157: nee pudeat pepulisse lyram, cum pace serena 
publico, securis exultent otia terris. ipse fidem movisse 
jerox narratur Achilles, quern Ovidio ablatum viri 
docti tribuunt Lucano. neutri ego. ab Ovidio aetas 
abiudicat, ab Lucano conditio scribentis, nam ille qui- 
cumque poeta ignotus fuit, obscura domo fortuna tenui; 
et humilius blanditur Pisoni quam ut decuerit Lucanum. 
ait ecce v. 241: tu, Piso, latentem exsere: nos humilis 
domus, at sincera parentum, sed tenuis fortuna sua caligine 
celat. at Lucanus certe notus, celeber, per se perque 
uxorem praedives. adde Senecam patruum in aula; 
qui huic humili et tenui protendere manum potuisset 
prae Pisone . . . sed nee Statius huius carminis 
mentionem facit, cum omnia minima scripta eiusrecen- 
seat Silv. 

Because of such objections it has long been considered 
improbable that the author of the Laus Pisonis could be 
the author of the Pharsalia. It seems worth while to me 
to give a fair consideration to the possibility, however 
remote, of the two being identical. Weber 4 has summed 
up the main arguments which may be set forth against 
this possibility : (1) the panegyrist was of humble birth 
(v. 254), while Lucan was sprung of the noble race of the 
Annaei; (2) the panegyrist was of slender means (v. 
255), while Lucan was rich (Juv. 7. 79); (3) no mention 
of the Laus Pisonis is found in the gencthliacon written 
in honor of Lucan by Statius (S. 2.7) or in Vacca's life 



^o Petron. 94. p. 451. *To Tac. A. 14. 14. 

2 To Ovid A. A. 1. 234. 4 Proleg. pp. 9-10. 

18 



of Lucan; (4) Lucan was of precocious genius and fam- 
ous for his youthful poems and declamations ; the pane- 
gyrist, on the other hand, was as yet in obscurity (v. 
224) ; (5) the language of the two poets differs. Lucan 
was, as Quintilian (Inst. 10. 1. 90) says, ardens etcon- 
citatus et sententiis clarissimus; the panegyrist may be 
characterized as lenis et tranquillus. 

Weber's first argument may or may not be true. As 
a result of the faulty preservation of w. 254-5 in the 
Sichard text and Paris MSS. it is questionable whether 
the poet says that his family is humilis or non humilis. 
The sequence of thought and connection of words seems 
to demand non humilis. 1 J. Held, 2 an editor who 
accepted the author of the poem as unknown and had no 
especial interest in proving or disproving the theories as 
to its authorship, first noted that the text demanded the 
change of nos humilis to non humilis. But the poet was 
undoubtedly in moderate circumstances, since he says, 
v. 254: 

'sed tenuis fortuna sua caligine celat'. 
He nevertheless insists that it is not money which he 
seeks but a road to fame : 
v. 219 'nee enim me divites auri 

imperiosa fames et habendi saeva libido 

impulerint, sed laudis amor' 
v. 223 'sublimior ibo 

si famae mihi pandis iter, si detrahis umbram' 
v. 253 'tu nanti protende manum : tu Piso latentem 

exere' 
In contrast to this evidence it will be well to examine 
the evidence which we have as to the wealth of Lucan. 



1 See note to v. 254. 

2 Incerti Auctoris ad Calpurn. Pison. Carmen 

29 



At the time when Juvenal wrote his satires, probably 
between ioo and 130 A. D., Lucan was considered to 
have been a wealthy poet, for Juvenal, 7. 79, cites Lucan 
as an example of a poet free from the cares of poverty : 

'contentus fama iaceat Lucanus in hortis 

marmoreis'. 

Tacitus, A. 16. 17, tells us that the father of Lucan, 
L. Annaeus Mela, sought to find a shorter road to 
wealth by acting as agent for the imperial revenues: 
'Mela, quibus Gallio et Seneca parentibus natus, peti- 
tione honorumabstinuerat perambitionempraeposteram 
ut eques Romanus consularibus potentia aequaretur; 
simul adquirendae pecuniae brevius iter credebat per 
procurationes administrandis principis negotiis' . Could 
it be possible that at the time when Lucan was a youth 
of 19 his father was as yet only in moderate circum- 
stances"" Lucan married a rich wife, as we learn from 
Statius, S. 2. 7. 85: 

'sed taedis genialibus dicabo 
doctam atque ingenio tuo decoram 
forma, simplicitate, comitate 
censu, sanguine, gratia, tepof 

Lucan left proper ty at his death, to which his father laid 
claim, and this claim resulted ultimately in the destruc- 
tion of Mela, Tac. A. 16. 17: 'idem Annaeum Lucanum 
genuerat, grande adiumentum claritudinis. quointer- 
fecto dum rem familiarem etus acriter requirit, accusa- 
torem coneivit Fabium Romanum, ex intimis Lucani 
amicis. mixta inter patten) riliumque coniurationis 
scientia fingitur, adsimilatis Lucani litteris: quas 
inspectas Nero ferri ad cum iussit. opibus eius inhians. 
at Mela, quae turn promptissima mortis via. exsolvit 
venas'. 

30 



There is indeed no mention of a Laus Pisonis among 
the works of Lucan enumerated in the life of Vacca 1 : 
'extant eius complures et alii, ut Iliacon, Saturnalia, 
Catachthonion, Silvarum 10, tragoedia Medea imper- 
fecta, salticae fabulae 14 et epigrammata prosa oratione 
in Octavium Sagittam et pro eo, de incendio urbis, 
epistolarum ex Campania, non fastidiendi quidem 
omnes, tales tamen, ut belli civilis videantur accessio'. 
But Lucan was a prolific writer for one who lived but 
little over 25 years. At the Neronia in 60 A. D., when 
but a youth of 2 1 , he won the prize for Latin verse with his 
laudes Neronis. Still earlier than this he had written 
the Iliacon and other poetry, as we learn from Statius, 
who seems to indicate the order of Lucan's poems, 
S. 2. 7. 54: 

'ac primum teneris adhuc in annis 

ludes Hectora Thessalosque currus 

et supplex Priami potentis aurum, 

et sedes reserabis inf erorum ; 

ingratus Nero dulcibus theatris 

et noster tibi prof ere tur Orpheus, 

dices culminibus Remi vagantis 

infandos domini nocentis ignes, 

hinc castae titulum decusque Pollae 

iucunda dabis adlocutione. 

mox coepta generosior iuventa 

albos ossibus Italis Philippos 

et Pharsalica bella detonabis.' 

Lucan was closely associated with C. Calpurnius Piso 

in the conspiracy against Nero 2 and on account of this he 

was forced to commit suicide in 65 A. D. Piso was a 

man some years older than Lucan, as there is mention of 



^osius, Lucanus p. 336. 2 Tac. A. 15. 49, 56, 70. 

3i 



his nuptial banquet in 37 A. D. If Lucan were born in 
39 A. D., as the life of Vacca states, he was 19 in 58 
A. D. The terminus ante quern established for the Laus 
Pisonis is 59 A. D. 1 

The evidence for the authorship of Lucan is thus so 
uncertain that Weber 2 himself is compelled to say: 
'quae praeterea prolata sunt argument a ad demonstran- 
dum Lucanum panegyrici nostri auctorum non esse vel 
parvi vel nullius sunt ponderis. Etenim neque ex 
argumento, quod in carmine tractatur, neque ex iuvenili 
poetae aetate, qui 19 annos natus panegyricum scrip- 
sisse vs. 260 sq. fertur, Lucanum hoc poemation non 
composuisse sequitur'. 

In an endeavor to further the solution of this problem 
I have collected from the Pharsalia those passages, in so 
far as I have been able to find them, which seem to show 
a resemblance to the Laus Pisonis. The similarities to 
be observed are not so much in thought as in diction. 
Whether these similarities are sufficient to be of any 
weight is a matter of doubt. 

Pan. v. 1 unde prius coepti surgat mihi carminis 
ordo 

quosve canam titulos 
Luc. 8. 816 5 ;<r£/'/ miserable bustum 

non ullis plenum titulis, non ordine tanto 

fastorum 



Pan. v. 9 quid pleni numeroso consule fasti 

profuerint 
Luc. S. 270 pi en 1 s reddere fastis 



x See Introd. p. 20. 'Proleg. p. 10. 



Pan. v. 10 perit omnis in illo 

gentis honos 
Luc. 7. 597 hie patriae perit omne decus 



Pan. v. 19 et prius aethereae moles circumvaga 

flammae 
Luc. 9. 494 ulla nisi aethereae medio velut aequore 

flammae 



Pan. v. 27 occidit et virtus 
Luc. 4. 491 perit obruta virtus 



Pan. v. 27 licet exercere togatae 

munia militiae 
Luc. 1. 312 partesque in bella togatae 



Pan. v. 30 contingit gloria civis 
Luc. 10. 284 contingit gloria genti 



Pan. v. 30 servati contingit gloria civis 

Luc. 1. 358 sm;afo'awsreferentempraemiaqueraim 



Pan. v. 35 iam tunc Cicerone iubente 

laurea facundis, cesser unt arma togatis 

Luc. 7. 64 Tullius eloquii, cuius sub iure togaque 
pacificas saevustremuit Catalina securis 

Luc. 1. 122 et victis cedat piratica laurea Gallis 



Pan. v. 37 claros visura triumphos 
Luc. 1. 12 nullos habitura triumphos 



Pan. v. 44 laudibus ipsa tuis resonant fora 
Luc. 8. 734 ut resonent tristi cantu/bra 

33 



Pan. v. 46 sequitur quocumque vocasti 
Luc. 7. 815 quocumque tuam f ortuna vocabit 



Pan. v. 49 stc auriga solet 

Luc. 8. 199 non sic moderator equorum 



Pan. v. 51 rapido permittit habenas 

quadrupedi 
Luc. 2. 500 levis totas accepit habenas 

in campum sonipes 



Pan. v. 53 cercice rotata 
Luc. 5. 172 cervice rotat 



Pan. v. 58 densaque vibrata iaculari fulmina lingua 
Luc. 9. 631 stridula fuderunt vibratis sibila Unguis 



Pan. v. 69 rcticcntc scnatu 
Luc. 7. 782 stringcntc scnatu 



Pan. v. 70 cum tua bis senos numeraret purpura 

fasces 
Luc. 2. 19 nullos comitata est purpura fasces 



Pan. v. 72 quodsi iam validae mihi robur mentis 

sset 
Luc. 5. 18 rofr/rr inert a)iimis 



Pan. v. 75 /cssa Iota! mihi pondere a 

Luc. 4. 754 fessaia.ee 

Luc. 2. 204 dubiaque/afrj;// cervice 

34 



Pan. v. 76 et tremefacta cadunt succiso poplite 

membra 
Luc. 7. 623 Avon membra cadunt 
Luc. 6. 87 et tremulo medios abrumpit poplite 

gyros 



Pan. v. 80 stridula cum rapido faciunt convicia soli 
Luc. 9. 631 stridula fuderunt vibratis sibila Unguis 



Pan. v. 10 1 praestringit imagine visus 
Luc. 1. 154 praestringens lumina flamma 
Luc. 3. 38 vani terremur imagine visus 



Pan. v. 138 ducis opus 
Luc. 6. 39 ducit opus 



Pan. v. 145 ipsa vices naturae subit variataque 
cursus 
ordinat inversis et frondibus explicat 
annum 
Luc. 7. 201 dissimilem certe cunctis, quos explicat, 
egit 
Thessalicum natura diem 



Pan. v. 147 adopertus nubibus aether 
Luc. 3. 522 et liber nubibus aether 



Pan. v. 157 miles erit 
Luc. 10. 390 miles erit 



Pan. v. 157 positis toga vestiet armis 
Luc. 1 . 60 positis sibi consulat armis 
Luc. 1. 451 positis repetistis ab armis 

35 



Pan. v. 158 hunc fora pacatum, bellantem castra 

decebunt 
Luc. 9. 199 praetulit arma togae, sed pacem arma- 

tus amavit 



Pan. v. 183 scrutaris pectora dextra 
Luc. 8. 555 quid viscera nostra 
scrutaris gladio 



Pan. v. 184 nunc latus adversum necopino per cutis 

ictu 

Luc. 8. 618 latus funestus Achillas 

perfodit 



Pan. v. 190 te si forte iuvat studiorum ponder e 

jessum 
Luc. 5. 354 heu, quantum fortuna umeris iam 
ponder e fessis 
amolitur onus 



Pan. v. 197 mills modis acies tua dimicat 
Luc. 3. 689 mille modos inter leti mors una timori 
est 



Pan. v. 198 longo venit ille recessu 
Luc. 3. 477 quae prius ex longo nocuerunt missa 
:<su 



Pan. v. 199 hie se committcrc rixae 

audct 
Luc. 9. 372 audct in ignotas agmen comm 
gentes 



Pan. v. 200 et in praedam venientem decipit hostem 
Luc. 4. 167 et ad montes tendentetn praevenit hostem 

36 



Pan. v. 207 pauco spoliata milite 
Luc. 4. 254 spoliatus milite multo 



Pan. v. 213 et hoc veri complectere pignus amoris 
Luc. 4. 502 tanti quae pignora demus amoris 



Pan. v. 216 j 'or s an melior a canemus 
Luc. 9. 865 forsan maiora supersunt 



Pan. v. 2 1 7 et vires dabit ipse favor 
Luc. 1. 66 tu satis ad vires Romana in carmina 
dandas 



Pan. v. 235 ignotus populis 

Luc. 8. 19 cunctis ignotus gentibus 



Pan. v. 243 decus, in totum merito venerabilis 

aevum 
Luc. 7. 588 decus imperii, spes o suprema senatus 
extremum tanti generis per saecula 
nomen 



Pan. v. 249 possumus aeternae nomen committere 

famae 
si tamen hoc ulli de se promittere fas est 
Luc. 9. 980 o sacer et magnus vatum labor, omnia 

fato 
eripis et populis donas mortalibus 

aevum. 
invidia sacrae, Caesar, ne tangere famae 
nam, si quid Latiis fas est promittere 

Musis 

37 



LAUS PISONIS 

Unde prius coepti surgat mihi carminis ordo 
quosve canam titulos, dubius feror. hinc tua, Piso, 
nobilitas veterisque citant sublimia Calpi 
nomina, Romanas inter fulgentia gentes; 
hinc tua me virtus rapit et miranda per omnes 5 

vita modos: quae, si desset tibi forte creato 
nobilitas, eadem pro nobilitate fuisset. 
nam quid imaginibus, quid avitis fulta triumphis 
atria, quid pleni numeroso consule fasti 
profuerint, cui vita labat? perit omnis in illo 10 

gentis honos, cuius laus est in origine sola, 
at tu, qui tantis animum natalibus aequas, 
et partem tituli, non summam, ponis in illis, 
ipse canendus eris : nam quid memorare necesse est 
ut domus a Calpo nomen Calpurnia ducat 15 

claraque Pisonis tulerit cognomina prima, 
umida callosa cum pinseret hordea dextra? 
nee si cuncta velim breviter decurrere possim ; 
et prius aethereae moles circumvaga flammae 
annua bis senis revocabit mensibus astra, 20 

quam mihi priscorum titulos operosaque bella 
contigerit memorare ; manus sed bellica patrum 
armorumque labor veteres docuere Quirites, 
atque illos cecinere sui per carmina vates. 
nos quoque pacata Pisonem laude nitentem 25 

38 



exaequamus avis, nee enim, si bella quierunt, 
occidit et virtus: licet exercere togatae 
munia militiae, licet et sine sanguinis haustu 
mitia legitimo sub iudice bella movere. 
hinc quoque servati contingit gloria civis, 30 

altaque victrices intexunt limina palmae. 
quin age maiorum, iuvenis facunde, tuorum 
scande super titulos et avitae laudis honores 
armorumque decus praecede forensibus actis. 
sic etiam magno iam tunc Cicerone iubente 35 

laurea facundis, cesserunt arma togatis. 
sed quae Pisonum claros visura triumphos 
olim turba vias impleuerat agmine denso, 
ardua nunc eadem stipat fora, cum tua maestos 
defensura reos vocem facundia mittit. 40 

seu trepidos ad iura decern citat hasta virorum 
et nrmare iubet centeno iudice causas, 
seu capitale nefas operosa diluis arte, 
laudibus ipsa tuis resonant fora. tu quoque Piso 
iudicis affectum possessaque pectora ducis 45 

victor; sponte sua sequitur quocumque vocasti: 
flet si flere iubes, gaudet gaudere coactus 
et te dante capit iudex, quam non habet, iram. 
sic auriga solet feruentia Thessalus ora 
mobilibus frenis in aperto flectere campo, 50 

qui modo non solum rapido permittit habenas 
quadrupedi, sed calce citat, modo succutit arte 
flexibiles rictus et nunc cervice rotata 
incipit effusos in gyrum carpere cursus. 

39 



quis non attonitus iudex tua respicit ora? 55 

quis regit ipse suam, nisi per tua pondera, mentem? 
nam tu, sive libet pariter cum grandine nimbos 
densaque vibrata iaculari fulmina lingua, 
seu iuvat astrictas in nodum cogere voces 
et dare subtili vivacia verba catenae, 60 

vim Laertiadae, brevitatem vincis Atridae; 
dulcia seu mavis liquidoque fluentia cursu 
verba nee incluso sed aperto pingere flore, 
inclita Nestorei cedit tibi gratia mellis. 
nee te, Piso, tamen populo sub iudice sola 65 

mirantur f ora ; sed numerosa laude senatus 
excipit et meritas reddit tibi curia voces, 
quis digne referat, qualis tibi luce sub ilia 
gloria contigerit, qua tu reticente senatu, 
cum tua bis senos numeraret purpura fasces, 70 
Caesareum grato cecinisti pectore numen? 
quodsi iam validae mihi robur mentis inesset 
et solidus primos impleret spiritus annos, 
auderem voces per carmina nostra referre, 
Piso, tuas: sed fessa labat mihi pondere cervix 75 
et tremefacta cadunt succiso poplite membra, 
sic nee olorinos audet Pandionis ales 
parva referre sonos nee, si velit improba, possit; 
sic et aedonia superantur voce cicadae, 
stridula cum rapido faciunt convicia soli. 80 

quare age, Calliope, posit a gravitate forensi, 
limina Pisonis mecum pete: plura supersunt, 
quae laudare velis invents penatibus ipsis. 

40 



hue etiam tota concurrit ab urbe iuventus 
auditura virum, siquando iudice fesso 85 

turbida prolatis tacuerunt iurgia rebus, 
tunc etenim levibus veluti proludit in armis, 
compositisque suas exercet litibus artes. 
quin etiam facilis Romano profluit ore 
Graecia, Cecropiaeque sonat gravis aemulus urbi. 90 
testis, Acidalia quae condidit alite muros, 
Euboicam referens facunda Neapolis arcem. 
qualis, io superi, qualis nitor oris amoenis 
vocibus! hinc solido fulgore micantia verba 
implevere locos, hinc exornata figuris 95 

advolat excusso velox sententia torno. 
magna quidem virtus erat, etsi sola fuisset, 
eloquio sanctum modo permulcere senatum, 
exonerare pios modo, nunc onerare nocentes; 
sed super ista mo vet plenus gravitate serena 1 00 

vultus et insigni praestringit imagine visus. 
talis inest habitus, qualem nee dicere maestum 
nee fluidum, laeta sed tetricitate decorum 
possumus : ingenitae stat nobilitatis in illo 
pulcher honos et digna suis natalibus ora. 105 

additur hue et iusta fides et plena pudoris 
libertas animusque mala ferrugine purus, 
ipsaque possesso mens est opulentior auro. 
quis tua cultorum, iuvenis facunde, tuorum 
limina pauper adit, quern non animosa beatum no 
excipit et subito iuvat indulgentia censu? 
quodque magis dono fuerit pretiosius omni, 

41 



diligis ex aequo, nee te fortuna colentum 

natalesve movent: probitas spectatur in illis. 

nulla superborum patiuntur dicta iocorum, 115 

nullius subitos affert iniuria risus: 

unus amicitiae summos tenor ambit et imos. 

rara domus tenuem non aspernatur amicum 

raraque non humilem calcat fastosa clientem; 

illi casta licet mens et sine crimine constet 120 

vita, tamen probitas cum paupertate iacebit; 

et lateri nullus comitem cicumdare quaerit, 

quern dat purus amor, sed quern tulit impia merces ; 

nee quisquam vero pretium largitur amico, 

quern regat ex aequo vicibusque regatur ab illo, 125 

sed miserum parva stipe focilat, ut pudibundos 

exercere sales inter con vi via possit. 

ista procul labes, procul haec fortuna refugit, 

Piso, tuam, venerande, domum: tu mitis et acri 

asperitate carens positoque per omnia fastu 130 

inter ut aequales unus numeraris amicos, 

obsequiumque doces et amorem quaeris amando. 

cuncta domus varia cultorum personat arte, 

cuncta movet studium ; nee enim tibi dura clientum 

turba rudisve placet, misero quae freta labore 135 

nil nisi summoto novit praecedere vulgo; 

sed virtus numerosa iuvat. tu pronus in omne 

pectora ducis opus seu te graviora vocarunt 

seu leviora iuvant. nee enim facundia semper 

adducta cum fronte placet : nee semper in armis 140 

bellica turba manet, nee tota classicus horror 

42 



nocte dieque gemit, nee semper Gnosius arcu 

destinat, exempt o sed laxat cornua nervo, 

et galea miles caput et latus ense resolvit. 

ipsa vices natura subit variataque cursus 145 

ordinat, inversis et frontibus explicat annum. 

non semper fluidis adopertus nubibus aether 

aurea terrificis obcaecat sidera nimbis: 

cessat hiems, madidos et siccat vere capillos; 

ver fugit aestates; aestatum terga lacessit 150 

pomifer autumnus, nimbis cessurus et undis. 

ignea quin etiam superum pater arma recondit 

et Ganymedeae repetens convivia mensae 

pocula sumit ea, qua gessit fulmina, dextra. 

temporibus servire decet: qui tempora certis 155 

ponderibus pensavit, eum si bella vocabunt, 

miles erit; si pax, positis toga vestiet armis. 

hunc fora pacatum, bellantem castra decebunt. 

felix ilia dies totumque canenda per aevum, 

quae tibi, vitales cum primum traderet auras, 160 

contulit innumeras intra tua pectora dotes. 

mira subest gravitas inter fora, mirus omissa 

paulisper gravitate lepos. si carmina forte 

nectere ludenti iuvit fluitantia versu, 

Aonium facilis deducit pagina carmen; 165 

sive chelyn digitis et eburno verbere pulsas, 

dulcis Apollinea sequitur testudine cantus 

et te credibile est Phoebo didicisse magistro. 

nee pudeat pepulisse lyram, cum pace serena 

publica securis exultent otia terris, 170 

43 



nee pudeat, Phoebea chelys si creditur illis 

pulsari manibus, quibus et contenditur arcus; 

sic mouisse fides saevus narratur Achilles, 

quamvis mille rates Priameius ureret heros 

et gravis obstreperet modulatis bucina nervis: 175 

illo dulce melos Nereius extudit heros 

pollice, terribilis quo Pelias ibat in host em. 

arma tuis etiam si forte rotare lacertis 

inque gradum clausis libuit consistere membris 

et vitare simul, simul et captare petentem: 180 

mobilitate pedum celeres super orbibus orbes 

plectis et obliquis f ugientem cursibus urges : 

et nunc vivaci scrutaris pectora dextra, 

nunc latus adversum necopino percutis ictu. 

nee tibi mobilitas minor est, si forte volantem 185 

aut geminare pilam iuvat aut revocare cadentem 

et non sperato fugientem reddere gestu. 

haeret in haec populus spectacula, totaque ludos 

turba repente suos iam sudabunda relinquit. 

te si forte iuvat studiorum pondere fessum 190 

non languere tamen lususque movere per artem, 

callidiore modo tabula variatur aperta 

calculus et vitreo peraguntur milite bella, 

ut niveus nigros, nunc et niger alliget albos. 

sed tibi quis non terga dedit ? quis te duce cessit 1 95 

calculus? aut quis non periturus perdidit hostem? 

mille modis acies tua dimicat: ilk petentem 

dum fugit, ipse rapit; longo venit ille recessu, 

qui stetit in speculis; hie se committere nx 

44 



audet et in praedam venientem decipit host em; 200 

ancipites subit ille moras similisque ligato 

obligat ipse duos; hie ad maiora movetur, 

ut citus effracta prorumpat in agmina mandra 

clausaque deiecto populetur moenia vallo. 

interea sectis quamvis acerrima surgant 205 

proelia militibus, plena tamen ipse phalange 

aut etiam pauco spoliata milite vincis, 

et tibi captiva resonat manus utraque turba. 

sed prius emenso Titan versetur Olympo, 

quam mea tot laudes decurrere carmina possint. 210 

felix et longa iuvenis dignissime vita 

eximiumque tuae gentis decus, accipe nostri 

certus et hoc veri complectere pignus amoris. 

quod si digna tua minus est mea pagina laude, 

at voluisse sat est: animum, non carmina iacto. 215 

tu modo laetus ades : f orsan meliora canemus 

et vires dabit ipse favor, dabit ipsa feracem 

spes animum: dignare tuos aperire Penates, 

hoc solum petimus. nee enim me divitis auri 

imperiosa fames et habendi saeva libido 220 

impulerint, sed laudis amor, iuvat, optime, tecum 

degere cumque tuis virtutibus omne per aevum 

carminibus certare meis: sublimior ibo, 

si famae mihi pandis iter, si detrahis umbram. 

abdita quid prodest generosi vena metalli, 225 

si cultore caret? quid inerti condita portu, 

si ductoris eget, ratis efficit, omnia quamvis 



45 



armamenta gerat teretique fluentia malo 

possit et excusso demittere vela rudente? 

ipse per Ausonias Aeneia carmina gentes 230 

qui sonat, ingenti qui nomine pulsat Olympum 

Maeoniumque senem Romano provocat ore, 

forsitan illius nemoris latuisset in umbra, 

quod canit, et sterili tantum cant asset a vena 

ignotus populis, si Maecenate careret. 235 

qui tamen haud uni patefecit limina vati 

nee sua Vergilio permisit numina soli: 

Maecenas tragico quatientem pulpita gestu 

evexit Varium, Maecenas alta tonantis 

eruit et populis ostendit nomina Graiis, 240 

carmina Romanis etiam resonantia chordis, 

Ausoniamque chelyn gracilis patefecit Horati. 

o decus, in totum merito venerabilis aevum, 

Pierii tutela chori, quo praeside tuti 

non umquam vates inopi timuere senectae! 245 

quod si quis nostris precibus locus, et mea vota 

si mentem subiere tuam, memorabilis olim 

tu mihi Maecenas tereti cantabere versu. 

possumus aeternae nomen committere fam 

si tamen hoc ulli de se promittere fas est 250 

et deus ultor abest ; superest animosa voluntas 

ipsaque nescio quid mens excellentius audet. 

tu nanti protende manum: tu, Piso, latentem 

exere. non humilis domus et sincera parentum; 

sed tenuis fortuna sua caligine celat. 255 



46 



possumus impositis caput exonerare tenebris 
et lucem spectare novam, si quid modo laetus 
annuis et nostris subscribis, candide, votis. 
est mihi, crede, meis animus const antior annis, 
quamvis nunc iuvenile decus mihi pingere malas 260 
coeperit et nondum vicesima venerit aestas. 



47 



NOTES 

i. surgat: thus used of the rise or swell of verse in Ov. Am. 
I. I. 27, 'sex mihi surgat opus numeris, in quinque residat'. 

2 ff. hinx . . . hixc: the poet's attention is invited on 
the one hand by the famous ancestry of Piso, on the other, by 
Piso's own worth and example. For the use of hinc . . . 
hinc cf. Liv. 3. 55. 6, 'et cum plebem hinc provocatione, hinc tri- 
bunicio auxilio satis firmassent'. 

3. veteris Calpi: the Calpurnii, who from the time of the 
first Punic war formed one of the most illustrious families of the 
Roman state, claimed to be descended from Calpus, a son of Xuma 
Pompilius (Plut. Num. 21). Horace addresses the members of 
this family as Pompilius sanguis, A. P. 292. citant: sc. me. 
For the figurative use of citare, to summon, cf. Sen. Dial. 9. 13. I, 
'ubi vero nullum officium sollemne nos citat, inhibendae actiones'. 

5 f. per omnes . . . modos: cf. Stat. S. 5. 2. 74, 'pietasque 
per omnes — dispensata modos'. 

6 f. For the sentiment cf. Juv. 8. 20: 

'tota licet veteres exornent undique cerae 
atria, nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus'. 

8 f. DfAGDOBUS ■ . . AVITtS ITI.TA TRIIMPHIS atria: a 

bold figure, fulcio is properly used of the columns which support 
the atrium or of the walls which support the atrium (cf. Prop. 
3. 2. 11; Luc. 5. 516). The wings of the atrium were regularly 
adorned with imagines, wax masks of the ancestors of the family. 
During the empire, however, these were extensively replaced in 
use by imagines clipeatae, bronze and silver portrait medallions 
which were affixed to the walls of the house. To such imagines 
Statius refers in Th. 2. 214: 

'laeto regalia coetu 
atria complentur, species est cernere avorum 
comminus et vivis certantia vultibus aera'. 
It is possible that our poet is thinking of these when he speaks 
of imaginibus . . . fulta . . . atriu. avitis . . . 
trilmphis: this may possibly refer to the decoration of the 

4S 



atrium with painted pictures of the members of the family who 
had been honored with a triumph. With regard to this custom 
we have the testimony of Festus, (picta, Lind. p. 228) : 'eius rei 
argumentum est . . . pictum in aede Vertumni, et Consi, 
quarum in altera M. Fulvius Flaccus, in altera T. Papirius Cursor 
triumphantes ita picti sunt'. But avitisfulta triumphis may refer 
merely to the spoils and trophies of the conqueror which were 
affixed to the walls or columns of the atrium. Cf. Sil. 6. 434: 
'affixi clipei currusque et spicula nota 
aedibus in parvis magni monumenta triumphi 
pulsabant oculos'. 
9. pleni numeroso consule fasti: records filled with the 
names of many a consul, pleni fasti: similar is Luc. 8. 270 'an 
Libycae Marium potuere ruinae — erigere in fasces et plenis 
reddere fastis'. In the passage quoted plenis fastis is equivalent 
to the records filled with his name. 

11. gextis honos: the reading of the editio princeps by 
Sichard. The Paris MSS. have the reading nobilitas. This is to 
be rejected since nobilitas has been used three times in the preced- 
ing verses. Furthermore it does not suit the meaning as well as 
gentis honos. It is not a man's nobility that perishes as Wernsdorf 
points out but rather the honor derived from that nobility. 
cuius laus . . : cf. Juv. 8. 74: 

'sed te censeri laude tuorum 
Pontice, noluerim, sic ut nihil ipse futurae 
laudis agas: miserum est aliorum incumbere famae'. 

12. at tu, QUI . . : similar in thought is Ov. P. 2. 3. 1, 
'Maxime qui Claris nomen virtutibus aequas — nee sinis ingenium 
nobilitate premi'. 

13. et partem TiTULi . . : and who dost base a part of 
thy glory, not the whole, upon it. 

15. Calpurnia: in the nom. agreeing with domus; a rare 
construction with a trans, verb. But cf Ov. M. 15. 96, 'at vetus 
ilia aetas, cui fecimus aurea nomen'. 

16. claraque . . . cognomina prima: this reading 
which is that of Sichard, w. 14-16 being omitted in the Paris 
MSS., is difficult of interpretation. Weber discusses it Ind. Led. 
Marb. i860 — 61 p. 4. prima, he thinks, can not be construed with 
domus. There was no other gens which had the cognomen of Piso 
and so we could hardly interpret thus: and it was the first to 

49 



receive the famous cognomen of Piso. Weber would therefore 
associate prima in a sort of predicate relation with cognomina, 
understanding the poet to mean that the first cognomen of the 
gens Calpurnia was that of Piso. We know that there were other 
families of the Calpurnian gens with such cognomina as Bestia 
and Bibulus and even among the Pisones there were those who 
had the additional cognomen of Frugi. Hence we might inter- 
pret w. 14-16 as follows: jor what need is '.here to relate how the 
home derives its name from Calpus and how it received the famous 
cognomen 0} Piso which was its first, etc. Such an interpretation 
seems somewhat forced. On the other hand prima may very well 
limit domus if we interpret it as meaning of old, in the early days. 
For this use of the adjective primus, as equivalent to the adverb 
antiquitus, or olim, cf. Verg. A. 1. I, 'arma virumque cano, Troiae 
qui primus ab oris — Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit — 
litora'; 8. 319 'primus ab aetherio venit Saturnus Olympo*. 
This usage seems to offer the most satisfactory solution of our 
passage. 

17. umida . . . horde a: the epithet umida seem< 
suitable since it can hardly represent the condition of the barley 
at the time of grinding. We learn from Pliny H. N. 18. 7-\ that 
the barley was soaked as one stage in the making of ; 

the Greeks, but the barley was afterwards dried and roasted 
before grinding in the mills. The Italians did not even moisten 
the barley before roasting and grinding, Plin. H. \. 18. 74. 'Italia 
sine perfusione tostum in subtilem farinam molit'. Scaligei pro- 
posed to read jumitli in the place of umida, 'magis placeret fumida 
nam prius toircbantur: deinde saxo frangebantur'. More 
suitable is the emendation hortida propose! by Maehly, Fleckeis. 
Jahrb. 1862, p. 290: 'Ich denke, zu pinseret, zu callosa 
harden passt bessei hortida callosa usw\ hn-eret: before mills 
for grinding grain were invented the grain was pounded in a mor- 
tar. Cf. Serv. Aen. 1. 170. V: quia apudmaior -noliarum 
usus non erat, frumenta torrebant et ea in pilas missa pinsebant, 
et hoc erat genus molendi. unde et pinsores dicti sunt, qui nunc 
pistores vocantur'. Pliny, H. X. [8. 10. gives the same deriva- 
tion as our poet for the name Piso, 'cognomina etiam prima inde: 
Pilumni qui pilum pistrinis invenerat, Pisonis a pisendo'. 

18. decurrere ; this use of decuiTere in the sense of narrating 
is infrequent. But cf 149: 

'quantus equos pugnasque virum decurrere versu 

Maeonides' 
50 



19- aethereae . . . flammae: the sun. Lucan uses the 
same words of the stars, 9. 494, 'nee sunt discrimina terrae — ulla 
nisi aethereae medio velut aequore flammae'. circumvaga: an 
adjective infrequent in use. Horace, Epod. 16. 41, uses it of the 
ocean, which was thought to flow round the earth, 'nos manet 
Oceanus circumvagus'. 

20. annua . . . astra: refers to the risings and settings 
of the constellations, revocabit: Wernsdorf proposes renovabit 
as a better reading, citing Tib. 4. 1. 113, 'centum fecundos Titan 
renovaverit annos'. But revocabit is appropriate and even more 
forceful than the proposed reading. Cf. Calp. Eel. 2. 93, 'sed 
fugit ecce dies revocatque crepuscula vesper'. 

21. priscorum: the ancestors of Piso. Thus used as the 
equivalent of patrum or maiorum, since this limitation of its mean- 
ing is easily understood from the context, titulos: this word 
has been used twice already in the preceding verses, vv. 2, 13, 
and occurs once again in v. 33. 

22 f. contigerit memorare . . : a passage which is evi- 
dently corrupt. The sentence concluding with memorare ends in 
the feminine penthemimeral caesura, while the sed of the following 
sentence is postpositive. These licenses we might admit as possi- 
ble, as the thought of the clause prius . . . quam . . . 
contigerit seems to be complete with memorare. But the verb of 
the new sentence, docuere, leaves the meaning incomplete. With 
it, if it be read, we must supply in thought bellicas res or bellicam 
artem. Barth proposed the emendation decuere and this has met 
with the approval of Wernsdorf, Lemaire, and Martyni-Laguna. 
Martyni-Laguna testifies that decuere was found in the late codtx 
Varsaviensis. Although the readings of this MS. are for the most 
part untrustworthy, Weber thinks that in this case decuere is to be 
approved. He has adopted it in his text which reads: manus 
sed bellica patrum — armorumque labor veteres decuere Quirites. 
Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 290) points out the inconsis- 
tency in the thought of this, as the patres are themselves the veteres 
Quirites. We might possibly understand veteres decuere Quirites 
as meaning were a glory to the citizens oj old, but the meaning is 
forced. 

25 f. The sequence of thought in these and the preceding verses 
is as follows : I could not in the course of a year detail the glories 
of his ancestors. But they were famed for exploits in war and 

Si 



were duly praised by the bards of their own time. I too shall 
exalt Piso with praises equal to those of his forefathers, but it is 
with praises won in the arts of peace. 

25. nos quoque: in contrast to sui vates, v. 24. pacata 
. . . laude: pacata is used with the meaning of the adjective 
pacalis, belonging to peace, rather than peaceful. Ovid uses the 
adjective pacatus in a similar fashion, P. 1. 1. 31, 'adiuvat in 
bello pacatae ramus olivae'. pacata laus is a phrase formed in 
contrast apparently to bellica laus, which occurs in Cic. Brut. 
21. 84; 68. 239. 

26. NEC enim si: the reading of Sichard. The Paris MSS. 
after omitting w. 14-26 begin anew here with a slight difference 
in words, tamen etsi bella quierunt — non periit, etc. 

27 f. licet exercere . . one may practice the duties of 

peaceful pursuits, togatae . . . militiae: a case of oxy- 
moron. The toga being the dress of peace was the sign of peace 
Cf. Calp. Eel. 4. 8, pacemque togatam. For mtlitia similarly used 
of civil pursuits cf. Cic. Mur. 9. 19, 'Servius hie nobiscum hanc 
urbanam militiam respondendi, scribendi, cavendi plenam sollici- 
tudinis ac stomachi secutus est'. 

29. Minx . . . bella: bella is here used of the legal pro- 
ceedings of the forum. Cf. Ov. Tr. 3. 12. 18: 

'cedunt verbosi garrula bella fori'. 
By the use of such terms as militia, sanguinis haustu, and bella 
mover e a comparison with real warfare is effected. 

30. servati . . . civis: the orator gained the glory of sav- 
ing a citizen when he saved him from being condemned to banish- 
ment and the loss of civil rights, or even to capital punishment. 

31. victrices . . . palmae: there are passages in other 
writers which refer to the custom of adorning the doorway of the 
successful pleader with the palm. Cf. Mart. : 

'sic fora mirentur, sic te palatia laudent, 
excolat et geminas plurima palma fores'. 

Juv. 7. 117: 

'rumpe miser tensum iecur, ut tibi lasso 
figantur virides, scalarum gloria, palmae'. 

In warfare the Roman soldier who had the honor of saving a fellow 

citizen was rewarded with the quercus or emit* corona. Cf. Luc. 

I- 358: 

52 



'Laelius emeritique gerens insignia doni 
servati civis referentem praemia quercum'. 
33. scande super titulos : rise above the glories, etc. laudis : 
laus is a favorite word with our poet occurring in all eight times 
in the 261 hexameters. Cf. w. 11,25, 44. 66 » 2I0 > 2I 4> 221 - 

35. magno . . . Cicerone iubente: the Sichard text 
offers the impossible reading iuventae but this has been ingeniously- 
altered by Weber to iubente. It has been rightly perceived that 
our poet in w. 35-6 is referring to Cic. Off. 1. 22, 'cedant arma 
togae concedat laurea laudi'. The whole passage in Off. 1. 22 is 
devoted to the thought which our poet wishes to emphasize, namely 
that the achievements of peace are even more important than 
those of war. Cf . such statements as 'sed cum plerique arbitren- 
tur res bellicas maiores esse quam urbanas, minuenda est haec 
opinio . . . vere autem si volumus iudicare multae res 
exstiterunt urbanae maiores clarioresque quam bellicae'. It is 
clear then that our poet has in mind this passage in which Cicero 
sums up his belief in the verse, quoted above: 'yield, ye arms, 
to the toga; yield, ye laurels, to civic praises'. Cicero continues 
as follows: 'ut enim alios omittam, nobis rem publicam guber- 
nantibus nonne togae arma cesserunt'. From these words as well 
as the preceding verse our poet has drawn his statement, 'sic 
etiam magno iam tunc Cicerone iubente — laurea facundis, ces- 
serunt arma togatis'. iam tunc: iam is explained by Haupt 
{Opus. 3. 414) as intensifying the temporal force of tunc, the 
phrase iam tunc differing but little then from the simple tunc. He 
cites Nemes. Eel. 3. 21, 'iam tunc post sidera caeli — sola Jovem 
Semele vidit Jo vis ora professum'. 

36. facundis: concrete for the abstract facundia. Werns- 
dorf (Excur. 8) has shown that the verse quoted above from Cic. 
Off. 1. 22, 'cedant arma togae, concedat laurea laudi', was proba- 
bly known to our poet as 'cedant arma togae, concedat laurea 
linguae', linguae has some manuscript authority, though not the 
best, and is parallel to our poet's use of facundis. 

37. sed quae Pisonum: the reading of Sichard. The Paris 
MSS. have, instead, queque (quaeque) patrum claros quondam, etc. 
This being also the reading in the editions of Junius and Scaliger, 
Weber (Ind. Led. p. 5) has shown the following reasons for reject- 
ing it: que is not a suitable conjunction since it does not intro- 
duce a thought closely connected with the preceding sentence, but 

53 



one entirely new, patrum might refer to the old Romans in 
general, and so it would not be clear whether they or the patres 
Pisones were meant; quondam is unnecessary because of the fol- 
lowing olim. sed: J. Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 290) 
expresses the opinion that sed is without reason at the beginning 
of this sentence, and proposes that we write sic. But a satisfac- 
tory explanation of sed has been given by Weber (Ind. Led. p. 6) 
who explains the sequence of thought as being: 'sed quid te 
exhortor, ut superes res bellicas maiorum forensibus tuis actis, 
cum eloquentia tua in foro iam notissima sit; nam populus iam 
stipat foro, etc; vel: sed iam antecessisti titulos maiorum tuo- 
rum; nam populus, qui olim impleverat vias, triumphos maiorum 
tuorum visurus, nunc stipat eadem fora te dicentem auditurus'. 
visura: the fut. act. particip. is used independently to express 
purpose by the poets and the Post-Augustan writers. For the 
beginnings of the independent use of the fut. act. particip. see 
Landgraf, Archiv, 9. p. 47. 

39. ardua nunc eadem stipat fora: Weber (Ind. Led. p. 6) 
states that ardua is to be joined with turba, not with fora, and is 
descriptive of the attentive attitude of the people who stood 
ereda cervice. He cites Vcrg.A. 9. 53, where it is said of Turnus on 
•horseback campo sese arduus infert, and Hor. S. 1.2. 89, ardua 
cervix. This interpretation of ardua with turba seems somewhat 
forced. It is possible that ardua is to be taken with fora, since,/ ora 
probably refers to the imperial fora and these, unlike the forum 
Romanum, were enclosed by walls and colonnades, each forming 
an architectural unit. Being such, the adjective ardua might be 
applied to them as to magnificent and lofty public buildings. The 
forum Julium was begun by Caesar in 54 B. C. and completed by 
Augustus. Augustus then built the f<>rum Augustum which was 
dedicated in 2 B. C. Later, but probably not within the lifetime 
of our poet, there were added the fora of Vespasian, Xerva, and 
Trajan. The difference in elevation between the imperial fora 
and forum Romanum could not have been so great that the adjec- 
tive ardua would be applied for that reason. 

39 f. maestos . . . reos: cf. Hor. C. 2. i. 13, 'insigne 
maestis praesidium reis — et consulenti, Pollio, curiae'. 

40. defensura reos . . . facindia: cf. the description 
of C. Piso given by Tacitus, A. 15. 48, 'namque facundiam tuendis 
civibus excrcebat, largitionem adversum amicos, et ignotis quoque 

54 



comi sermone et congressu'. vocem . . . mittit: for the 
expression cf. Cic. Sest. 19. 42, 'haec ergo cum viderem . . . 
vocem pro me ac pro re publica neminem mittere'. 

41. trepidos: reos is understood. Cf. Ov. F. I. 22: 
'quae sit enim culti facundia sensimus oris 

civica pro trepidis cum tulit arma reis'. 
decem . . . virorum: a court of magistrates who had 
jurisdiction in civil matters. The centumviri (cf. v. 42 centeno 
iudice) were a body of indices before whom civil cases also were 
tried, the suits which fell especially under their cognizance being 
actions relating to inheritances. From the time of Augustus the 
decemviri acted as presiding officers in the centumviral court (Suet. 
Aug. 36). To this fact our passage bears witness in the words ad 
iura decem citat hasta virorum . . . centeno iudice. hasta: 
the spear was the symbol of the centumviri, apparently beine set- 
up at their place of meeting. So hasta came to be used as 
synonomous with the centumviral court. Cf. Suet. Aug. 36, 'ut 
centumviralem hastam . . . decemviri cogerent'. 

42. firmare . . . causas: to prove, to bring forward 
facts to support their cases, centeno iudice : a poetical expres- 
sion for centum (viris) iudicibus. The distributives are occa- 
sionally used by the poets in the place of the cardinal numerals. 
Cf. Stat. S. 4. 4. 43, 'cessat centeni moderatrix iudicis hasta'. 

43. capitale nefas: a crime punishable by death or the loss 
of civil rights. The thought is that whether Piso exercise his elo- 
quence in civil or criminal cases the fora resound with his praises. 
operosa: used for the second time. Cf. v. 21 above, diluis: 
with capitale nefas means literally to extenuate or do away with a 
capital crime, the thought implied being that of refuting a capital 
charge. Ovid uses diluo, meaning to extenuate, with peccata, 
R. Am. 695, 'nee peccata refer, ne diluat'. By Cicero the verb is 
used with crimen of refuting an accusation. Cf. Cic. Brut. 80. 
278, 'sic nos summi oratoris vel sanitate vel vitio pro argumento ad 
diluendum crimen usi suraus'. 

44 ff. tu quoque Piso . . : The reading of w. 44-6 is that 
found in the texts of Junius and Scaliger. This is also the reading 
of the Paris MSS. except that there is a lacuna between tu and 
Piso, quoque being inserted in the text in one MS. (7647) and in 
the margin of the other, quoque is without meaning in the pas- 
sage. But the reading of Sichard is equally corrupt: 

55 



'dura Piso, nam 
iudicis affectum possessaque pectora tentas, 
victus sponte sua sequitur quocunque vocasti'. 
Unger {Johns Jahrb. 1836, p. 268) has suggested that dura Piso 
nam is a mistake of the scribe for tu rapis omnem. Weber has 
adopted this conjecture, while Baehrens writes dum rapis una. 
There was evidently a lacuna at the end of v. 44 in the archetype 
of both families of MSS. 

45. affectum: the emotions; perhaps to be contrasted 
with pectora, the understanding. For affectum . . . ducis 
cf. Quint. Inst. 9. 1. 21, 'iam vero affectus nihil magis ducit'. 
possessaque pectora: possessa, perf. pass, partic. of possido. 
With the thought cf. Quint. Inst. 6. 2. 6, 'ita omnen veritatis 
inquirendae rationem iudex omittit occupatus adfectibus: aestu 
fertur et velut rapido flumini obsequitur'. 

45 f. ducis victor: a figure drawn from the triumph of a 
victorious general. The poet is thus describing the feats of elo- 
quence in terms of war as in vv. 27-9 above. 

47 f. Similar to these verses in thought is Quint. Inst. 6. 2. 3, 
'qui vero iudicem rapere et in quern vellet habitum animi posset 
perducere, quo dicto flendum irascendum esset, rarus fuit'. 
Because of this similarity L. Radermacher in his edition of Quin- 
tilian's institutio Oratoria has inserted in the text after flendum 
the word gaudendum. 

49. sic: Piso is as skilled at controlling the emotions of the 
judge as the Thessalian horseman is at controlling his steed. 
\ 1 Kic.A: ordinarily a charioteer, but from the description given 
in the following verses it is obvious that it must mean here a 
horsema-i. This is apparently the only instance of such a use of 
auriga. The word is derived from aurea (frenum) and ago (cf. 
Waldo Et. Wb. and Fest. p. 8. Lind.). It thus denotes merely one 
handles the reins. According to the derivation then it is 
equally applicable to horseman or charioteer, but from its usage in 
literature, were it not for this one instance, we should judge that 
it was limited entirely to the charioteer, ferventia . . . 
ora: thejoaming mouth of his steed. Thessalus: Thessaly 
famed for its horses and horsemen. Cf. Prop. 2. 10. 2: 
'sed tempus lustrare aliis Helicona choreis 
et campum Haemonio iam dare tempus equo'. 

56 



50. frenis . . . flectere: cf. Hor. C. 3. 7. 25: 
'quamvis non alius flectere equum sciens 
aeque conspicitur gramme Martio'. 
51-4. For a similar passage describing the feats of horseman- 
ship cf. Tib. 3. 7. 91-4: 

'aut quis equum celeremque arto compescere freno 
possit et effusas tardo permittere habenas 
inque vicem modo derecto contendere passu, 
seu libeat, curvo brevius convertere gyro'. 
tardo permittere habenas is to be compared with rapido permittit 
habenas . . . quadrupedi. Baehrens writes rabido instead of 
rapido, probably from the feeling that one would not need to give 
full rein to, and spur on, a fleet horse. But the picture is that of a 
rider urging on an already swiftly flying horse. 

52. sed calce citat: cf. Verg. A. 11. 714, 'quadrupedemque 
citum ferrata calce fatigat'. modo succutit arte: we are 
indebted to the Paris MSS. for preserving what is undoubtedly 
the correct reading here. The verse was incomplete in the text 
of Sichard, being marked with an asterisk, but later editions have 
the common reading torquet in aut as. This Weber (Ind. Lect. 
p. 7) has endeavored to explain, but in the light now thrown upon 
the passage by the manuscript reading we need not hesitate to 
condemn torquet in autas as a poor conjecture, made to fill out the 
incomplete verse, succutit: sc. habenis: now tightly he reins up 
the sensitive mouth. The rider at times spurs on his horse to 
faster and faster endeavors, then jerks him up short and wheels 
him in various maneuvers. The verb succutio is used, in Lucretius 
6. 55 1 . of stones jolting a wagon, in Ovid M. 2. 166, of the bound- 
ing of a chariot, but a nearer approach to the meaning of this pas- 
sage is found in Apuleius, Apol. 44, where the word is used to 
describe the jerking of the head of an epileptic boy, 'iam in media 
quaestione . . . manus contraxisset, caput succussisset'. 
The horseman by suddenly drawing tight rein jerks up the head 
of his horse, arte: cf. arto . . . freno in Tib. 3. 7. 91, 
quoted above. 

53. cervice rotata: cf. Ovid's expression, H. 4. 79, 'sive 
ferocis equi luctantia colla recurvas'. 

54. effusos . . . cursus: cf. Livy 2. 50, effuso cursu. 
carpere cursus: similar in construction is Stat. Th. 1. 311, 
volatus carpit. Our poet's thought, in gyrum carpere cursus, 
is expressed in Verg. G. 3. 191, by the simplephrase carpere gyrum. 

57 



55- QUis non attonitus . . : what judge does not look 
with awe upon thy countenance? 

56. PER tua PONDERA: through thy influence, the weight of thy 
arguments. Cf. Stat. Th. 1. 213, 'grave et immutabile Sanctis — 
pondus adest verbis'. The singular pondus is more usual in this 
signification. But cf. Cic. De Or. 2. 17. 73, 'omnium senten- 
tiarum gravitate, omnium verborum ponderibus est utendum'. 

57. pariter cum: equivalent to una cum (see Hands Tursel- 
linus 4. p. 388). 

58. densaque . . . fulmixa: the adjective densus has 
here the meaning frequent, repeated. It is so used with such words 
as ictus and verber. Cf. Verg. A. 5. 459, densis ictibus, and Stat. 
Th. 6. 421, densis . . . verberibus. vibrata . . . lin- 
gua: with impetuous tongue. Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 
291) proposes to read vibranti instead of vibrata, on the basis of 
the reading vibrati in one of the Paris I J (03). But this 
MS. also has the incorrect reading fulmine. The participle 
vibrans is used with lingua of the tongue of a serpent (cf. Verg. A. 
2. 21 1), but so also is vibratus (cf. Luc. 9. 631). Furthermore 
vibratus from being applied to something that is moved rapidly 
and forcefully seems to have acquired almost the meaning of 
impetuous, forceful. Cf. Aus. 413. 5. 'iambe . . . flammis 
corusci fulminis vibratior'. 

59. astrictas . . . voces: astrictus is thus used of speech 
which is concise. Cf. Cic. Brut. 95 rborumque astricta 
comprehensio', and also 90. 309, 'in dialectica exercebar, quae 
quasi contracta et astricta cloquentia putanda e ium 
cogere: to condense. A figurative transfer from such an ex- 
ion as 'capillos colligit in nodum' (l)v. ;.. • . Quin- 

tilian also uses nodus of rhetorical diction. Cf. Inst. 9. 4. 
'membratim plerumque narrabimus. aut ipsas periodos maioribus 
intervallis et velut laxioribus nodis resolvemus'. 

60. et dare . . . verba I a construction modelled 
upon such a literal expression as 'daret ut catenis fatale mon- 
strum' (Hor. C. I. 37. 20). catenae: the reference is to simple, 
concise discourse where one sentence is vitally linked with 
another. For the metaphorical use of catena as applied to oratori- 






cal language, cf. Quint. Inst. 5. 14. 32, 'in catenis ligant et inex- 
plicabili serie conectunt'. Vv. 57-8 are thus in contrast to vv. 
59-60, the former picturing the use of all the verbose and weighty- 
eloquence at an orator's command, the latter, the use of concise 
and simple diction, none the less powerful. 

61. vim Laertiadae . . : thou dost surpass the force of 
Ulysses and the brevity of Menelaus. Our poet is describing three 
kinds of oratory, two of which he has already defined and the 
third he takes up in the following verses (62-4). Of these three 
kinds he gives as the great representatives, Ulysses, Menelaus, 
and Nestor (v. 64). Homer mentions the oratory of Menelaus 
(II. 3. 214), the force of Ulysses' speech (II. 3. 221), and the sweet- 
ness of Nestor's tongue (II. 1. 249). These three Homeric heroes 
seem to have furnished stock examples of the different types of 
oratory. Quintilian, Inst. 12. 10. 64, speaks of them as exemplify- 
ing three kinds of eloquence: 'nam et Homerus brevem quidem 
cum iucunditate et propriam, id enim est non deerrare verbis, et 
carentem supervacuis eloquentiam Menelao dedit, quae sunt 
virtutes generis illius primi; et ex ore Nestoris dixit dulciorem 
melle profluere sermonem, qua certe delectatione nihil fingi maius 
potest; sed summam aggressus in Ulixe facundiam magnitudinem 
illi iunxit'. Cicero, Brut. 10. 40, mentions two types, the force- 
ful oratory of Ulysses and the sweet eloquence of Nestor. Gellius 
6. 14, defines the three kinds of oratory and cites these same 
Homeric examples: 'sed ea ipsa genera dicendi iam antiquitus 
tradita ab Homero sunt tria in tribus: magnificum in Ulixe et 
ubertum, subtile in Menelao et cohibitum, mixtum moderatum- 
que in Nestore'. 

63. nec incluso sed aperto . . . flore: flos means the 
embellishment and ornamentation of speech. It is so used by 
Cicero and Quintilian. Cf. Cic. De Or. 3. 25. 96, 'ut porro con- 
spersa sit quasi verborum sententiarumque floribus' ; Brut . 1 7. 66, 
'iam vero Origines eius quern florem aut quod eloquentiae non 
habent'. nec incluso sed aperto flore then means not with restrained 
but with free oranmentation. With incluso we may supply in 
thought paucis verbis. Cf . Quint. Inst. 8. 3. 68, 'at si aperias haec, 
quae verbo uno inclusa erant', in which passage we find con- 
trasted aperias (cf. aperto) and inclusa. pingere: Maehly 
(Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 291) thinks it useless to attempt to 
explain incluso flore pingere, since this whole verse seems to him 

59 



out of keeping with the preceding verse, the one emphasizing 
ornamental, the other, smoothly flowing language. But orna- 
mentation is not necessarily opposed to smoothly flowing diction. 
Maehly would read fundere cursu instead of pingere flore and sup- 
ply rore to take the place of cursu in v. 62. Aside from the fact 
that such alterations have no manuscript authority, we may urge 
that liquidoque fluentia cursu is a more natural expression than 
liquidoque fluentia rore. pingere flore is also a simple and natural 
metaphor. For pingere used with flos in literal signification cf. 
Lucret. 5. 1381: 

'praesertim cum tempestas ridebat et anni 
tempora pingebant viridantis floribus herbas'. 
Just as flos is used of the ornamentation of speech so pingere is 
used of embellishing speech. Cf. Cic. Brut. 37. 141, 'eaque non 
tarn in verbis pingendis habent pondus quam in illuminandis 
sententiis*. 

64. incliia NbsTOIBI . • the famous charm of sweet 
tongued Nestor yields to thee. mellis: an echo of the Homeric 
passage (II. 1. 249) where words sweeter than honey are said to 
flow from Nestor's tongue. 

65. Piso: is used by the poet with a short o, as also in v 
129, 253. So Ovid uses his cognomen Naso. populo sub iudice : 
for the anastrophe cf. Ti >, Jove sub domino, and luce sub 
ilia, v. 68 below. 

66. numerosa LAUDB: cf. v. 9. numeroso consule. 

67. reddit . . . curia voces: the curia echots with the 
applause thou hast rightly won. curia might also be interpreted as 
the senate itself and in this case teddit voces would mean merely 
to bestow applause. But the first interpretation seems best, as 
avoiding a repetition of the thought in the preceding clause. 
reddit thus means to echo, give back the applause, voces refi 

the shouts of approval bestowed upon the orator. Cicero, De 
Or. 3. 26. 101, tells us what some of these were: 'quare bene et 
praeclare, quamvis nobis saepe dicatur: belle et festive, nimium 
saepe nolo, quamquam ilia ipsa exclamatio: non potest melius, 
sit velim crebra'. 

68. luce sub illa : cf . the temporal use of sub in Plin. H. I 
115, 'ideo sub ista die quam maxime invia petunt'. 

69. reticexte sexatu: the Sichard text has the impossible 
reading retinente. recinente has been suggested bv Unger (Jahns 

60 



Jahrb. 1836, p. 269) and adopted in the text of Baehrens. But 
the reading reticente, which is found in the editio Lugdunensis 
secunda and in the texts of Junius and Scaliger seems preferable. 
Piso is represented by the poet as delivering an oration and giving 
thanks to the emperor, reticente denotes the silent attention of 
the senate. Cf. Ov. P. 4. 4. 35: 

'curia te excipiet, patresque e more vocati 

intendent aures ad tua verba suas'. 

70. bis senos . . . fasces: inasmuch as a consul was 
preceded by twelve lictors carrying the fasces it is clear that Piso 
had been elected consul and this was the occasion of his oration. 
The election of consuls from the time of Tiberius was in the hands 
of the senate and the vote of the senate was controlled by the 
emperor. Calpurnius Piso was probably a consul suffectus (see 
Introd. p. 18). With this verse cf. Ov. P. 4. 9. 4: 

'missaque, di faciant, auroram occurrat ad illam 

bis senos fasces quae tibi prima dabit'. 
purpura: cf. Ov. P. 4. 4. 25, 'purpura Pompeium summi velabit 
honoris'. 

71. Caesareum grato . . : Pliny the Younger, when 
appointed consul suffectus in 100 A. D. delivered an elaborate 
address in eulogy of Trajan. This panegyric has been preserved. 
We may infer that it was an oration of similar type which Piso 
delivered. 

72-83. These verses were placed at the end of the poem by 
Junius and Scaliger and the editors who followed their texts. 
Wernsdorf was among those who kept this arrangement, though 
he later expressed his disapproval of it (P. L. M. vol. 5. p. 1470). 
There can be no doubt that the arrangement of Sichard is correct. 
The poet has been discussing Piso's eloquence in the courts and 
in the senate. Feeling his inability to do justice to thiss ubject he 
breaks off and takes up a consideration of his private life. The 
word hue of v. 84, which is to be referred to penatibus ipsis of v. 
83, has no explanation if v. 84 is read immediately after v. 71. 
These verses, 72-83, are not only needed in their setting to explain 
the further development of the poem but if placed at the end leave 
the poem in an apparently incomplete state. 

72. quod si 1 am valid ae . . : with this deprecatory 
statement compare v. 259, 'est mihi, crede, meis animus con- 

61 



stantior annis'. The poet, though boasting a mind riper than his 
years, still feels himself immature. 

73. PRIMOS . . . ANNOS: cf. V. 26l. 

76. succiso poplite: lit. ham-strung. We should expect 
rather succiduo poplite, as in Ov. M. 10. 458. But with the phrase 
succiso poplite we may supply velut as Unger {Johns Jahrb. 1836, 
p. 276) suggests. 

77 f. olorinos . . . sonos: among the ancients the swan 
had a reputation, perhaps largely mythical, for being an especially 
tuneful bird (cf. Hor. C. 4. 3. 19; Verg. E. 9. - lern 

scientists distinguish from the tame or mute swan, which is com- 
monly known, a wild or whistling swan, which is a native of Ice- 
land and northern Russia and which migrates southward in 
autumn. It is said to have a musical note. It is possible that 
some such species gave rise to the ancient belief. Pandionis 
ales: the nightingale. The two daughters of Pandion, Procne 
and Philomela, were changed into a nightingale and a swallow. 
Pandionis ales might then refer to either the nightingale or the 
swallow. Unger (Johns Jahrb. 1836, | inks that this 

passage is taken from Lucretius, 3. 6, where the swallow is con- 
trasted with the swan, 'quid cnim contendat hirundo — cycnis?' 
But it is better to interpret Pandionis ales as the nightingale 
because of the comparison between the cicada and the nightingale 
in the following verses. The poet says: as the nightingale is to 
the swan, so the cicada is to the nightingale. 

78. referre: reproduce, imitate. 

79. aedonia: this is the reading of the editio Lugdunensis 
secunda. The Sichard text offers et hed; 1 is apparently 
a corruption oiet aedonia. et Pandioniu,oi the Paris 
probably due to a corrector, aedonia is an adjective formed from 
acdoti. It occurs a pt in v. 47 of Lact. De Phoe- 
nice, which is thought to be a relatively modern compilation. 
Though so rare in use aedonia appears to be the correct reading. 
CICADAS: the shrill toned cicada, or tree-locust, was well known 
to the ancients. By the Romans its noise seems to have been 
considered raucous, perhaps, but not entirely displeasing. 
Cf.Vefg.G.3.3 

'et cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae'. 
Calp. Eel. 5. 56: 

'at simul argutae nemus increpuere cicadae'. 
62 



The Greek poets use it as a simile for sweet sounds (cf . Horn. II. 3. 
151; Hes. Op. 580, Sc. 393). So the comparison of the cicada to 
the nightingale may not be as disparaging as it seems. 

80. stridula . . . convicia: shrill noise or clamor, 
convicia is thus used of the noise of frogs by Columella, 10. 12, 
'perpetitur querulae semper convicia ranae'. rapido . . . 
soli: the reading of Sichard and the Paris MSS. JBaehrens has 
adopted the conjecture rabido for which there is no need. Cf. 
Verg. G. 1. 92, rapidive potentia solis, where rapidus is used of the 
hot sun. The noise of the tree-locusts is greatest when the sun is 
hottest. Cf. Verg. E. 2. 12: 

'at mecum raucis, tua dum vestigia lustro, 
sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis'. 

81. quare age . . : the poet now exhorts his Muse to 
leave the subject of the forensic glory of Piso and take up the con- 
sideration of his private virtues. 

84. Hue etiam . . : the youths assembled at Piso's home 
to listen to his oratorical exercises and learn something of his art. 

86. tacuerunt iurgia: i. e. whenever legal business was sus- 
pended for some public holiday, iudice fesso points to the fact 
that it is the feriae aestivae which the poet has in mind. These 
holidays were kept during midsummer when, because of the heat, 
many wealthy Romans went into the country. On the jeriae 
vindemiales, which were held toward the close of summer, there 
was also a cessation of legal business. With verse 86 cf. Stat. 
S. 4. 4. 39: 

'certe iam Latiae non miscent iurgia leges, 
et pacem piger annus habet, messesque reversae 
dimisere forum'. 
Cf. also Plaut. Capt. 78: 

'ubi res prolatae sunt, quom rus homines eunt, 
simul prolatae res sunt nostris dentibus'. 

87. tunc etenim . . : for then he practises with the joils 
as it were, and exercises his art in fictitious suits, levibus . . . 
in armis : soldiers and gladiators used in their exercises a wooden 
staff or sword, rudis, to which levibus armis is here equivalent. 
Cf. Liv. 26. 51. proludit: cf. the use in Ov. A. A. 3. 515, where 
the rudis is mentioned as the weapon used for practise: 

'sic ubi prolusit, rudibus puer ille relictis, 
spicula de pharetra promit acuta sua'. 

63 



88. COMPOSITISQUE . . . litibus: componere litem ordi- 
narily means to settle a suit, but here to invent or devise a suit. 

89 f . These verses are somewhat difficult to interpret satisfac- 
torily. In Graecia we have a bold expression for Graeca oratio, 
while as the subject of sonat we must supply Piso. In order to 
avoid these difficulties Weber (Ind. Led. p. 8) has suggested the 
reading gratia instead of Graecia, and sonus, instead of sonat, the 
two nouns thus having a common verb profluit. The verses 
would then read: 

quin etiam jacilis Romano profluit ore 

gratia Cecropiaeque, sonus gravis aemulus urbi. 
According to such a reading the poet would praise the charm of 
Piso's Latin speech and his ability in speaking Greek, as Weber 
(op. cit. p. 8) explains. Such an emendation would only make the 
passage more obscure. As Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 291) 
has pointed out, gratia would thus seem to be a phenomenon 
among Roman poets. Graecia profluit is a strong metaphor, but 
we can hardly say that it is impossible, inasmuch as w. 89-92 
are obviously dealing with Piso's fluency in Greek. 

90. aemulus: used with the dat. in poetry and Post- Augustan 
prose (see Kuhner-Stegmann, Ausf. lat. Gramm. 2 1 . p. 437). 

91. testis: sc. est. Acidalia . . . alite: the dove of 
Venus. Neapolis was a city of Greek origin, being a colony of 
Cumae. Cumae was founded by colonists from Chalcis in 
Euboea, and the fleet of these colonists, according to legend, was 
guided by a dove. Cf. Veil. Pat. I. 4, 'nee multo post Chalci- 
denses, orti, lit praediximus, Atticis Hippocle et Megasthene duci- 
bus Cumas in I talia condiderunt . huius classis cursum esse direc- 
tum alii columbae antecedentis volatu ferunt, alii nocturno aeris 
sono, qualis Cerealibus sacris cieri solet. pars horum avium 
magno post intervallo Neapolim condidit'. Neapolis seems to 
have taken over the legend of the dove from its parent city. 
Statius, who was a native of Neapolis, alludes to it in S. 3. 5. 80: 

'Parthenope, cui mite solum trans aequora vectae 
ipse Dionaea monstravit Apollo columba*. 

92. BUBOICAM ■ErSBBMS ■ . . arcem: reproducing the 
Euboean city. Euboicom fan to Chalcis, not Cumae, as 
the poet naturally wishes to associate Neapolis with the Greek 
city. Similarly Statius repeatedly refers to its Chalcidic or 
Euboean origin (cf. S. I. a. 203 ; 2. 2. 94; 3. 5. 12). One might 

04 



infer that it was settled directly by colonists from Chalcis. 
Strabo (5. p. 246), while calling it a colony of Cumae, states that 
it received an additional body of Chalcidic and Athenian colonists. 
The words of Statius and our poet may be accounted for, however, 
on the ground that it was a colony of the Chalcidic city of Cumae. 
faccunda Neapolis : facunda is the emendation of Unger (Jahns 
Jahrb. 1836, p. 265) for foecunda of the Sichard text. Naples was 
a place of Greek culture where men of letters spent their time in 
study. Cf. Verg. G. 4. 563: 

'illo Vergilium me tempore dulcis alebat 
Parthenope studiis florentem ignobilis oti'. 
Martial speaks of it as docta Neapolis, 5. 78. 14, and so too 
Columella as docta Parthenope, 10. 134. Wernsdorf (Excur. 9) 
has expressed the opinion that in w. 90-91 we have special refer- 
ence to the quinquennial contests at Naples, mentioned by 
Statius (S. 2. 2. 6; 3. 5. 92; 5. 3. 1 13), in which poets and orators 
took part. 

93. nitor oris: elegance of speech. Cf. Cic. Or. 32. 115- 
orationis nitor. For os used poetically as oratio or sermo cf . Verg- 
A. 2. 423, 'atque ora sono discordia signant'. Maehly {Fleckeis, 
Jahrb. 1862, p. 292) interprets the genitive oris as dependent upon 
vocibus but condemns it as weak and meaningless, as it certainly 
would be in such connection. 

94 f. hinc . . . hinc: = modo . . . modo; a post- 
classical usage, solido fulgore micantia verba: words flam- 
ing with genuine fire. Cf . Quint. Inst. 10. 1 .2, 'solida atque robusta 

. . eloquentia'. 

95. implevere locos: have filled, i. e. enrich, the subject. 
Wernsdorf explains: 'implevere dicit, quia in his locis inest 
amplificatio et dilatatio arguments . locus: a topic of discus- 
sion, or division of a subject, figuris: cf. the definition given 
by Quintilian, Inst. 9. 1.4, 'figura, sicut nomine ipso patet, con- 
formatio quaedam a communi et primum se offerente ratione'. 

96. advolat . . . sententia: the poet has reference to 
a brief and forceful, yet polished, mode of expression, advolat: 
sc. to the audience. For the absolute use cf. Sil. 13. 776, 'Croesi 
mox advolat umbra', excusso . . . topno: excusso seems 
to be equivalent merely to agitato, set in motion. We may com- 
pare its use in Ov. M. 5. 596, 'excussaque bracchia iacto'. The 
fashioning of words upon the potter's wheel is a metaphor 

65 



employed by Propertius, 2. 34. 43, 'incipe iam angusto versus 
includere torno', and Horace, A. P. 441, 'male tornatos . . . 
versus'. Cf. also Gell. 9. 8, 'hanc sententiam memini a Favorino 
inter ingentes omnium clamores detornatam inclusamque verbis 
his paucissimis'. 

97. etsi . . . fuisset: a contrary to fact condition with 
imperfect indicative in the apodosis to show that the conclusion is 
true independently of the condition. 

98. eloquio: cf. Luc. 7. 63, 'Romani maximus auctor — 
Tullius eloquii'. SANCTUM . . . SBNATUM: sanctus is a 
regular epithet of the Roman senate, permulcere: cf. Hor. 
Ep. 1. 16. 26, 'et his verbis vacuas permulceat aures'. 

99. exonerare pios . . i. e. free the innocent from 
false charges and convict the guilty, onerare: to overwhelm, 
sc. with proofs, or accusations. Cf. Cic. X. D. 3. 3. 8, arguments 
onerare iudicem. 

100. mo vet: sc. the audience. 

101. QfSIGNl . . . imagine: imago = species, prae- 
strinc.it . . . visrs: dazzles the sight. Weber {Ind. Led. 
p. 8) suggests the use of perstringit in the place of p> 
'Saepius in MSS. commutantur praestringere et perstringere, quae 
oculorum aciem plus minusve nimio splendore obtusam vel per- 
cussam significant. Itaque et h. 1. scribendum esse videtur 
perstringit, quod melius quadrat, laudes Pisonis augens, cuius 
vultus primum audientes in universum movisse, deinde eorum 
oculos perculisse atque animos percussisse dicitur; ut. L 1 25, 
4 horror ingens spectantes perstrin^nt, et Plin. H. X. 2.16 (18) 
solis — radii visits perstringere nostras'. The ad-iitional force 
which Weber sets in perstringit is not sufficient to outweigh the 
fact that praestringere oculos or aciem oculor:.> us is 
here equivalent, is a regular form of expn Plaut. M. 

Cie. Vat in. 10. - 

[03. HABITUS: sc. oris: expression of the face. HABSTUM: 
stern, scwere. 

103. fliilhm: the adjective is opposed to maestum and 
apparently means mild or gentk. It is used with mollis of bodies 
lacking in physical strength in Liv. 34. 47 5, 1 et fluida 

corpora, laeta . . . tetricitate: oxymoron. We 
render: a pleasant seriousness. The noun tetricitas occurs only 

66 



here, but the adjective tetricus is used by other writers. Martial 
applies it to the Fates, 4. 73. 6, 'moverunt tetricas tam pia vota 
deas'. Cf. also Liv. 1. 18. 4, 'disciplina tetrica ac tristi veterum 
Sabinorum'. Wernsdorf compares with this passage Sil. 8. 610: 
'laeta viro gravitas ac mentis amabile pondus 
et sine tristitia virtus, non ille rigoris 
ingratas laudes nee nubem frontis amabat'. 

106. additur huc . . : to these characteristics are added 
an uptight honesty, an independence tempered by restraint, and a 
disposition free from avarice. 

107. ferrugine: iron-rust, i. e. avarice. Wernsdorf would 
prefer to take it as envy, malice, and cites Hor. S. 1.4. 101 where 
aerugo, copper rust, is used with this signification, 'hie nigrae sucus 
loliginis, haec est — aerugo mera'. But Horace also uses aerugo 
of avarice, A. P. 330, 'at haec animos aerugo et cuia peculi — cum 
semel imbuerit'. That j err ugine is best interpreted as avarice is 
shown by the following verses, for it is with this that the poet 
introduces the subject of Piso's generosity. 

108. ipsaque possesso . . : he is enriched by his intel- 
lect more than by the possession of gold. Cf. Ov. Am. 3. 8. 3, 
'ingenium quondam fuerat pretiosius auro'. Wernsdorf cites 
Stat. S. 1. 2. I2i, 'huic quamvis census dederim largita beatos, — 
vincit opes animo'. 

109. cultorum: clients, cultor is used only infrequently 
with this meaning. But cf. Juv. 9. 48, 'vos indulgebitis umquam 
cultori'. IUVENIS facunde: Weber (Ind. Led. p. 8) proposes 
iucunde as more suitable to the passage: 'sed quid quaeso rei est 
liberalitati et beneficentiae cum facundia? . . . vocabulum 
est corruptum; lege iucunde et epitheton recte se habet'. There 
is, however, nothing inconsistent in facunde. The poet has 
spoken in turn of Piso's eloquence, of his nobility of countenance, 
his uprightness and independence, his lack of avarice, his rich 
intellect, invents facunde serves to recall all this and link with it 
the new subject of Piso's generosity, facunde is also a more or 
less formal mode of addressing literary friends (cf. v. 32 above; 
Ov. Tr. 1. 9. 57; Mart. 7. 91. 1). 

nof. animosa . . . indulgentia: eager beneficence. The 
use of animosa in this sense is rare. Cf. Plin. H. N. 10. 83, ani- 
mosa contentio (avium in cantando); Tac. H. 1. 24, animosus 
corruptor. For the use of indulgentia cf. Calp. Eel. 4, 33, 'tua 

67 



nos alit indulgentia farre'. beatum excipit: a proleptic use 
of the adjective. The client is poor when Piso receives him into 
his circle, but he is straightway enriched with generous gifts. 
The sudden change in his fortunes is thus indicated by beatum and 
subito censu. Wernsdorf cites Claud. Cons. Olyb. et Prob. 47 : 

'cernere semper erat, populis undare penates 

adsiduos intrare inopes, remeare beatos'. 

112. quodque . . . fuerit: a parenthetical relative 
clause with potential force, magis . . . pretiosius: a 
pleonasm found for the most part in early and post-classical Latin 
(see Kuhner-Stegmann, Ausf. lat. Gramm. 2. 2 p. 464). 

113. diligis ex aequo: thou dost cherish them alike. Piso 
shows no favoritism according to the fortunes of his dependents. 

115. SUPERBORUM . . . DICTA IOCORUM : the 'AttX thrusts 

of arrogant jests, superborum is a transferred epithet. The 
humble clients of Piso are not forced to endure the insulting jests 
of an arrogant patron or his friends, dictum has the special 
signification of a witty saying. Cf. Macr. S. 2. 1. 14, 'iocos enim 
hoc genus veteres nostri dicta dicebant. testis idem Cicero qui in 
libro epistularum ad Cornelium Xepotem secundo sic ait : itaque 
nostri, cum omnia, quae dixissemus, dicta, essent, quae facete et 
breviter et acute locuti essemus, ea proprio nomine appellare dicta 
voluerunt'. 

116. Mines: obj. gen. 

117. ONUS wiKiiiu: . . one circle of friendship em- 
braces high and low, Martyni-Laguna compares with this Hor. 
S. 1. 9. 49: 

' "domus haec nee purior uHa 
nee magis his aliena malis; nil mi officit", inquam, 
"ditior hie aut est quia doctior; est locus uni 
cuique suus" '. 

118. kara : the adjective is thus used as the equivalent of the 
adverb taro. Cf. Ov. M. II. 766, 'nee Iliacos coetus nisi rarus 
adibat'. 

119. This verse is a mere repetition of the thought of the pre- 
ceding, fastosa: an adjective comparatively rare in use. The 
form jastuosus occurs in Mart. Cap. 6. 579. and 9. 898. Jastosus 
is an incorrect formation due to the exigencies of metre, according 
to Schdnwerth-Weyman, Archiv 5. p. 207. But in addition to 

6S 



this passage in our poem it is found in Mart. 10. 13. 7; 13. 102. 2, 
and Petr. 131. 3. 

120. illi: illic, the reading of Sichard, was rejected by 
Weber and Beck in favor of the conjectural illi. This conjecture 
is now supported by the reading of one of the Paris MSS. 
(17903). Though Weber adopted illi in his text he later 
proposed Mis as better (Ind. Led. p. 9), 'Cur enim clienti soli 
casta mens et vita tribui debet? Cur non et ami 00? Corrige 
illis quod ad utrumque cultorem spectat, de quibus postea vs. 
122 et vs. 124 sermo est, ad comitem s. clientem et ad amicum 
quos et antea vs. 1 14 significaverat vv. probitas spectatur in illis'. 
Weber evidently misinterprets the passage, tenuem amicum and 
humilem clientem do not refer to two different persons, or classes of 
persons, but to one and the same person. The poet merely 
repeats the same idea under different terms. It is the lot of the 
poor client in general of which he is speaking, mens: this 
word is lacking in the text of Sichard but is the reading of the 
old editions. The Paris MSS. read domus, an evident inter- 
polation. There was probably a lacuna here in the archetype 
of all our MSS. Baehrens repeats licet to fill the lacuna: illi 
casta licet, licet et sine crimine constet. 

120 f. sine crimine constet vita: though his life lemain 
without fault. For the use of consto cf. Sen. Ben. 4. 2. 3, 'et ego 
sine virtute nego beatam vitam posse constare'. 

121. probitas . . . iacebit: true worth will be held in no 
esteem. Cf. Ov. F. 1. 218, 'dat census honores, — census amicitias; 
pauper ubique iacet'. cum paupertate: indicates the condi- 
tion under which worth will be held in no esteem. For this use 
of the preposition cum see Hands Turs. 2. p. 155. Similar is Cic. 
Sest. 45. 98, 'id quod est praestantissimum . . . cum digni- 
tate otium'. 

122. et: the conjecture of Santen. The Sichard text reads 
sed which can hardly be correct since the following statement is 
not adversative or corrective but an amplification of the preced- 
ing, nullus iam lateri of the Paris MSS. is an attempt to correct 
this mistake which existed apparently in the archetype of both 
families. Various conjectures have been made, though none 
which removes the difficulty any more satisfactorily than the 
change of sed to et. Beck has proposed nam, Klussmann, sic 
(Philol. 1856, p. 591), Weber, si. Weber's suggestion involves 
considerable change in the interpretation. According to his pro- 

69 



posal (Ind. Led. pp. 9-10) the clause Mi casta licet mens . . . 
vita must depend upon the preceding verbs, aspernatur and calcat. 
tamen thus introduces a new statement followed by the conditions 
si . . . quaerit . . . nee . . . largitur . . . sed 
. . . focilat: 'Quamobrem ponenda est distinctio minor post 
v. iacebit et corrigendum si pro sed, quod (S;) in MSS. saepius 
cum si confunditur, ita ut quae sequuntur ad vs. usque 127, 
eodem modo inter se coniuncta . . . ab hac particula pen- 
deant'. Against this ingenious arrangement it may be urged that 
licet . . . tamen is a natural and frequently used antithesis, 
and that there is as much inconcinnity in the use of tamen to 
introduce the statement probitas iacebit as in the use of sed to 
introduce nullus quaetit. lateri . . . comitem circum- 
dare: it was the duty of a client to escort his patron when he 
walked abroad. For this we find such expressions as latus 
claudere, and latus tegere (Juv. 3. 131 ; Hor. S. 2. 5. 18). A similar 
use of citcumdare with lateri may be seen in Liv. 30. 19. 8, 'nine 
patre, hinc Catulo lateri circumdatis privato magis quam publico 
decor e insignis Romam rediit'. 

123. impia merces: the client in return for being present at 
the salutatio of his patron and accompanying him in public was 
rewarded with a sportula. This originally consisted of a small 
basket of food, but later of a small sum of money. Many clients 
thus earned their living, waiting upon a number of patrons (cf. 
Mart. 10. 74; 3. 7.) 

125. QUSM kegat . . . regatir ab illo: the construc- 
tion is illogical. Occasionally to a relative clause another clause 
is thus added in which the relative has no place. Cf. Cic. Prov. 
28, 'actum est de decern legatis, quos alii omnino non dabant, alii 
exempla quaerebant, alii tempus differebant, alii sine ullis 
borum ornamentis dabant'. regat: the patron was called rex, 
whence perhaps the use of the verb rego. Cf. Mart. 2. 18, 'qui 
rex est, regem, Maxime, non habeat'. EX aequo: not equally 
as in v. 113 above, but on equal terms, as an equal. Cf. Luc. 8. 
232, 'solusque e numero regum telluris eoae — ex aequo me Parthus 
adit'. 

126. focilat: Weber {lnd. Led. pp. 10-11) expresses the 
opinion that this verb is not derived from the same loot a&jociilare 
(or focillari) which has a short vowel in the first syllable and is to 
be connected vtith jocus. He explains its derivation and meaning 

70 



thus: 'foculare contra sive quod hoc loco et in Glossar. Lat. 
Graec. ex Cod. nr. 7692 apud Du Cange T. 3. p. 332 legitur focilare 
Nonio auctore 1. 31. p. 10 est i. q. fovere, nutrire. Additur ter 
tium v. focio, quod extat cum glossa i/zw/uffw, adesco, allicio in 

Supplem. Antiquar. apud Du Cange lam v. focil- 

landi nostro loco aptum esse apparet, sive significat adescare, 
allicere, sive nutrire, sustinere. . . . Est enim focilare sive 
foculare frequentativum quoddam verbi focare in suffixum il. 
. . . Proprie significat focare, quod superest in perfocare, 
praefocare, suffocare, i. q. fauces aliqua re claudere sive implere, 
quae actio si repetita esse dicitur, fit frequentativum focilare sive 
foculare, quod est cibum in os saepius inserere, cibare, yj/utfilfav'. 
jocilat evidently means to support, whether it has, as Weber 
thinks, the literal force of feeding or providing food for a person 
or whether it is to be associated with focillare, to joster, cherish. 
pudibundos: oj which one should be ashamed, i. e. disgraceful. 
For this passive signification of pudibundus cf. Val. Fl. 1. 805, 'date 
fallaci pudibunda senectae — exitia indecoresque obitus'. 

128. ista procul labes: the reading of Junius and of the 
Paris MSS. ipse piocul livor, the reading of Sichard, has been 
rightly rejected by Wernsdorf, Weber, and Baehrens. The poet 
is not introducing a new subject but is referring to the conditions 
which he has just described, as is evident from the words, piocul 
haec jortuna refugit . . . domum. livor has no connection 
with the preceding verses and furthermore is not suitable where 
the subject under discussion is the relation of client and patron. 
ista labes has reference to the contents of w. 118-23. procul: 
equivalent to in longinquum, e. g. Liv. 7. 5. 5, 'procul inde omnibus 
abire iussis'. haec fortuna: this condition refers to the shameful 
treatment of clients just set forth in vv. 124-7. To Maehly 
jortuna does not seem sufficiently explanatory and he proposes 
ferrugo used with the same meaning as ferrugine v. 107 above 

(Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 292). jortuna is, however, sufficiently 
qualified by haec. 

129. tu: sc. es. With regard to the felicitous language of vv. 
129-32, H. E. Butler, Post-Augustan Poetry, p. 158, says: 'Any 
great man might be proud to receive such a tribute'. He renders 
into English thus : 'Mild is thy temper and free from sharp harsh- 
ness. Thou layest aside thy pride in every act, and among thy 



71 



friends thou art counted a friend and equal, thou teachest men to 
follow thee and seekest to be loved by loving'. 

131. As similar to the sentiment of this verse Wernsdorf cites 
Plin. Pan. 2. 4, 'et hoc magis excellit atque eminet, quod unum 
ille se ex nobis putat nee minus hominem esse quam hominibus 
praeesse meminit. 

132. amorem quaeris amaxdo: cf. Plin. Pan. 85. 3, 'habes 
ami cos, quia amicus ipse es . . . potest fortasse princeps 
inique, potest tamen odio esse non nullis, etiamsi ipse non oderit: 
amari, nisi ipse amet, non potest'. 

133. cuncia domus . . : the clients of Piso cultivated 
various literary arts and assembled in his home to read aloud and 
discuss their efforts. 

134. movet STUDIUM: inspires endeavor. Maehly (Fhckeis. 
Jahrb. 1862, p. 292) proposes jovet studium on the ground that be 
knows no passage parallel to movet studium. But cf. Ov. Am. 
3. 12. 16, 'ingenium movit sola Corinna meum'. The literary 
aspirants who frequented Piso's home were inspired to fresh 
endeavors, not only through hearing things worthy of emulation 
but through being heard and approved by their friends. Cf. Ov. 
Pont. 4. 2. 

'excitat auditor studium, laudataque virtus 

crescit, ct immensum gloria calcar habet'. 
NEC EMM TIBI IH R,\ . . thou dost favor no rough or uncul- 

tivated throng oj clients who, t dying on menial service, know nothing 
except to go before thee and clear away the people. 

136. summoto . . . vllgo: submovete is properly used 
of the lictor's duty of clearing away the people to make way for a 
magistrate (cf. Liv. 3. 48. 3, Hor. C. 2. 16. 10). Piso favored no 

uncultivated clients who performed for him only the menial 
service of lictors and had no higher ambitions. 

137, >i :> vik ROSA . . but a manij old excellence 
pleases thee, numerosa, as Wernsdorf notes, has the meaning oj 
many sorts, useful tor many things. He cites the inscription (Grut. 

3) 'corpore in exiguo res numerosa fui', where tes numerosa 
apparently means having a kncnvledge oj many things, variously 
accomplished. With this use of virtus numerosa cf. Quint. Inst. 
5. 10. 10, numerosius opus, a work of various contents. TU PR 
IN omne . . : thou dost eagerly apply thyself to every task, 



great or small. For pronus in the sense of eager, willing cf. Tac. 
H. I. i, pronis auribus. 

139 f. FACUNDIA . . . ADDUCTA CUM FRONTE: Stem- 

browed eloquence. 

141. classicus horror: the neuter substantive classicum is 
used of the trumpet or sound of the trumpet. But in classicus 
hortor, for classici horror, we have an adjectival use which is 
unusual. 

142. gemit: Martyni-Laguna (Wernsd. P. L. M., vol. 4. p. 
864) notes : 'nemo forte dixit classica gemere. millies permutan- 
tur in scriptis fremere et gemere. ethic forte: fremit'. But cf. 
Claud. 3. 218, 'classica non gemerent'. nec semper Gnosius 
. . : these words recall Hor. C. 2. 10. 19, 'neque semper arcum 
tendit Apollo', arcu: the reading of the Paris MSS., while 
arcus is the reading of Sichard. Weber and Baehrens have 
adopted arcum unnecessarily, destinare is used by post-Augustan 
writers of the act of aiming performed by archers and slingers. 
It may take as object the thing aimed at, or the thing aimed. 
But the thing aimed is naturally the arrow discharged from the 
bow, not the bow itself. Cf. Veg. Mil. 2. 23, 'sagittis vel certe 
lapidibus ex fustibalo destinatis,' and Aur. Vict. Caes. 42. 23, 
'destinandi sagittas mire promptus'. It seems best to accept the 
abl. arcu, used as in Stat. Th. 8. 439, 'Phaedimon Iasiden arcu 
Dircaeus Amyntas — destinat'. destinat is then used absolutely 
but may be interpreted with some such word as sagittas or tela 
understood. C. Beck (Statii ad Calpurn. Pison. Poemation) 
thinks that f eras is to be supplied as object, while Unger {Jahns 
Jahrb. 1836, p. 269) favors arcus, explaining destinare arcus as an 
inversion similar to sagittas tendere . . . arcu, Hor. C. 1. 
29. 9. 

145 ff. These verses imitate freely Hor. C. 4. 7. 1-12. 

145. ipsa vices . : cf. Hor. C. 4. 7. 3, 'mutat 
terra vices'. 

146. inversis . . . frontibus: the reading of the 
Sichard text is frondibus. The Paris MSS. unfortunately omit 
this verse, jrontibus is the plausible conjecture of Martyni- 
Laguna (Werns. P. L. M. vol. 4. p. 865): 'displicet: inversis 
frondibus. Quaenam sunt frondes inversae? aut ego plane 
caecutio, aut verum est frontibus, ut diversae anni facies dicantur, 
respectusque fiat ad Janum. Natura explicat annum frontibus 
inversis, i. e. mutatis. Alia frons veris, alia aestatis, alia au- 

73 



tumni, alia denique hiemis'. This conjecture has been adopted 
by Weber and Baehrens. For the expression we may compare 
versis jrontibus, Verg. G. 3. 24. 

147. xox semper . . : cf. Hor. C. 2. 9. 1, 'non semper 
imbres nubibus hispidos — manant in agros'. 

148. aurea . . . obcaecat sidera: puts out the eyes of 
the twinkling stars. Cf. Plaut. Men. 180 'solem vides — satin ut 
occaecatust prae huius corporis candoribus'. 

149. hiems: the seasons, which were originally conceived of 
as women, were personified as men by the later Romans. Such 
seems to be our poet's conception though it is obscured by the 
natural gender of hiems. madidos . . . capillos: winter 
is represented with dripping locks because of the storms and 
snows of the winter season. For the same reason Ovid pictures 
him with shaggy and hoary hair. Cf. M. 2. 30, 4 et glacialis 
Hiems canos hirsuta capillos', and M. 15. 212, 'inde senilis hiems 
tremulo venit horrida passu, — aut spoliata suos, aut, quos habet, 
alba capillos'. siccat veki ■ ■ nh the returning warmth 0} spring. 

150 f. With these verses cf. Hor. C. 4. 7 ) 12: 
'frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas 

interitura simul 
pomifer Autumnus fruges effuderit, et 

bruma recurrit iners'. 

150. TB1GA LACBSSI1 : I > BX] ression calls to mind the picture 
of a victor driving before him his defeated foe. 

151. pom 1 ii:k: cf ::n decorum mitibus 
pomis caput — autumnus agris extulit'. NDfBIs: this is the 
reading of the Paris MSS., while nubibus is the reading of Sichard. 
Baehrens has adopted ni:i : >us, the conjecture of Barth. This 
may at first glance seem appropriate, but either nimbis or nubibus 
serves better to recall vv. 147--9 which were the starting point in 
the poet's cycle and in which it is 1 is hiems but aquosa 
hiems that is WDIS: poetical for aquis. Cf. 

M. 1 . 266, 'barba gravis nimbis, canis fluit unda capillis". 

1 52 ff. These verses are to be compared for similarity of thought 
withCalp. Kel. .; 

'ipse polos etiam qui temperat igne geluque 
Iuppiter ipse parens, cui tu iam proximus ipse, 

74 



Caesar, abes, posito paulisper fulmine saepe 
Cressia rura petit'. 

152. recondit: Wernsdorf has proposed reponit. But re- 
condo is used to describe the sheathing of a sword and is therefore 
not inappropriate with ignea arma, i. e.fulmina. Observe Ovid's 
appeal in Tr. 2. 179, 'parce, precor, fulmenque tuum, fera tela, 
reconde'. 

153. et Ganymedeae . . : this verse seems to be 
modelled on Ovid M. I. 165, 'foeda Lycaoniae referens convivia 
mensae'. 

154. EA . . . dextra: Horace vividly terms it rubente 
dextra, C. 1.2. 3. 

155. temporibus servire: to accommodate oneself to the 
occasion; equivalent to the Greek phrase 'r£ xcupy 5ov\etciv\ 
Anth. P. 9. 441. Note the description of Alcibiades given by 
Nepos, Alcib. 1, 'affabilis, blandus, temporibus callidissime 
serviens'. 

156. pensavit: a gnomic perfect, pensare has, like our own 
word weigh, the secondary meaning to consider. Thus certis 
ponderibus pensare means to consider carefully. We may keep the 
figure by rendering as follows : he ivho weighs each occasion with 
unerring scales, etc. 

157. vestiet: gestiet is the reading of Sichard, but vesliet is 
found in Paris MS. 7647, and is a much more suitable reading. 
toga gestiet is so bold a figure that it scarcely forms a parallel to 
miles erit, while toga vestiet expresses merely the opposite of miles 
erit and completes the thought in a well balanced way. 

158. pacatum, bellantem: a similar juxtaposition of the two 
words occurs in Liv. 3. 19. 12, 'nescio quo fato magis bellantes 
quam pacati propitios habemus deos'. 

159. felix ill a dies: for a similar beginning of the hexameter 
cf. Verg. Cir. 27, 'felix ille dies, felix et dicitur annus', totumque 
. . . per aevum: the reading of Sichard. totumque . . . 
per orbem is found in the Paris MSS. Either aevum or orbem is 
appropriate. For aevum cf. vv. 222, 243. The repetition of 
words is a noticeable characteristic of the poem. 

160. vitales . . . auras: the breath of life. 

162 f. mira subest gravitas . . : thou hast a wondrous 
gravity in the forum, and a wondrous charm when for a little thy 

75 



gravity is laid aside. Cf. Claud. 17. 247, 'rigidi sed plena pudoris 
— elucet gravitas fastu iucunda remote*'. 

164. LUDENTI . . . versu: light or playful verse, ludo 
is thus used of light poetical composition indulged in as a pastime 
rather than a serious pursuit. Cf. Hor. C. 1. 32. 2, 'si quid vacui 
sub umbra — lusimus tecum', fluitantia: smoothly flowing. 
The adjective is indicative of the ease and ability with which Piso 
composed verse, when such was his pleasure. Cf. liquidoque 
fluentia cursu, v. 62. 

165. facilis . . . pagina: the ready page, i. e. the page 
readily, easily runs off poems, deducit: deduco is used figura- 
tively of spinning out verses. Cf. Hor. Ep. 2. 1. 225, 'tenui 
deducta poemata filo'. 

166. chelyn: a Greek word used mostly by post-Augustan 
writers. Our poet uses it again in vv. 171, 24.2. It occurs as 
many as 26 times in the works of Statius. ebirno verbere: a 
poetical expression for eburno plectro. Seneca, Troad. 321, uses 
the verb verbeto of striking the lyre, instead of the more usual 
pulso, 'levi canoram verbenas plectro chelyn*. 

167. Ai-ui.i.iNKA: the music produced upon Piso's lyre being 
worthy of that of Apollo, the poet flatteringly calls it Apollo's 
lyre, BEQI m I nSTUDINI cam ly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 

. p. 293) thinks that sequitur and the instr. abl. testudine are 
not to be explained. He proposes regitur, but he thereby alters 
the meaning of the verse, imlcit cantus is not the song of Piso 
accompanied by the lyre, but the music evoked from the lyre 
itself. The meaning is: sweet music (produced) upon Apollo's 
lyre ensues. A similar 'forced' construction of the abl. may be 
seen in Claud. 17. i 

'vel quis non sitiens sermonis mella politi 

deserat Orpheos blanda testudine cantus?' 

168. Phoebo nnm 1 — 10: cf. Prop. 1. 2. 27. 'cum 
tibi praesertim Phoebus sua carmina donet — Aoniamque libens 
Calliopea lyram'. 

170. exiltent: peace runs riot in the land. A forceful 
expression. 

171 f. NBCPUDBAT . . . SICREDITIR: not be thou ashamed 

f hat the lyte of Apollo it thought to be played by those hands by which 

he bow too is dtawn. The thought is: be not ashamed that hands 

70 



which stretch the bow also play the lyre. The poet expresses this 
indirectly and figuratively by use of Apollo's example. After 
citing further the famous example of Achilles he introduces the 
subject of Piso's dexterity in arms. 

171. si creditur: the si clause is not conditional but equival- 
ent to a substantive clause — a construction not unusual after 
verbs of emotion (see Kuhner-Stegmann, Ausf. lat. Gramm. 2. 2 
p. 424). 

172. contend itur: used in its primary meaning, to stretch 
out, to stretch tightly. It is so used occasionally by the poets. 
Cf. Verg. A. 12. 815, 'non ut contenderet arcum'. 

173. Achilles: Achilles, when compelled to give up Briseis to 
Agamemnon, refused to take further part in the war and remained 
in his tent where he solaced himself with the lyre (Horn. II. 9. 186). 
Cf. Ov. Tr. 4. 1. 15; Stat. S. 4. 4. 35. 

174. quamvis mille rates . . : when Hector had suc- 
ceeded in repelling Ajax the Trojans set fire to the ships of the 
Greeks (Horn. II. 16. 112-24). Cf. Sen. Troad. 319-21: 

'interque caedes Graeciae atque ustas rates 
segnis iacebat belli et armorum immemor, 
levi canoram verberans plectro chelyn'. 

Priameius . . . heros: perhaps an imitation of Ov. A. A. 

2. 5, Priameius hospes, which is used of Paris, brother of Hector. 

Priameius heros occurs in II. Lat. 271, where it too refers to Paris. 

175. et gravis . . : and the hoarse trumpet resounded in 
opposition to the music oj the strings. 

176. Nereius . . . heros: a repetition in form of 
Priameius heros. extudit: similarly elido is used of the pro- 
duction of melody, Sen. Oedip. 734, 'lituusque adunco — stridulos 
cantus elisit aere'. 

177. terribilis . . . Pelias: the spear of Achilles 
whose shaft was cut by Chiron upon Mt. Pelion(Hom. II. 16. 
143). The use of Pelias alone for Pelias hasta is unusual. 
Baehrens, in order to avoid this, adopts the conjecture iverat hasta 
instead of ibat in hostem. This elucidates Pelias but destroys the 
force of the rest of the clause. The Paris MSS. confirm the read- 
ing of Sichard, Pelias ibat in hostem, and there can be little doubt 
that this is the correct reading. In support of this absolute use 
of Pelias, Buecheler (Rhein. Mus. 1881, p. 336) cites the Hesychian 

77 



gloss: HrjXLas' To86pv t i5Lu)s rb roO'Ax t ^^f a,I ' caTa XP 7 7 " r " c< ^ 1 5^/cai wav. 
He compares also the absoluteuseof Libs, Chium, and Appias. If 
we note the occurrence of IlTjXtdt fieXlij and Ilrj\id5a ireXlrjv in Horn. 
II. 20. 277, 16. 143 and elsewhere, and of Pelias hasta in Ov. P. 1.7. 
52, 2. 2. 26, Her. 3. 126, M. 13. 109, we must conclude that Pelias 
may well have come to be used alone of the spear of Achilles. 

1 78 ff A description of a contest with arms follows. Blunted 
swords may have been used, or perhaps the clava, a weapon for 
exercising which seems to have partaken of the nature of a foil 
and was used especially by soldiers and gladiators. Cf. Veg. Mil. 
1. 11. 

179. inque gradum . . . consistere: to take position, 
to place oneself in position, gradus is used of the ground or posi- 
tion taken by a combatant. Lipsius proposed to read inque 
gradu . . . consistere and Wernsdorf has approved the sug- 
gestion, citing Ov. M. 9. 43, inque gradu stetimus. The ace. with 
in is, however, conceivable after consistere and occurs occasionally, 
e. g. Caes. B. G. 5. 33. 3, 'ut impedimenta relinquerent atque in 
orbem consisterent', and Tib. 4. 1. (Paneg. in Mess.) 101, 'seu sit 
opus quadratum acies consistat in agmen'. clausis . . 
membris: a use of claudo which seems to be without parallel. 
Wernsdorf gives the following explanation: 'clausis men 
i. e. compositis et coercitis intra statum. Quomodo apud Statium 
Theb. 6. 744, Pollux dicitur, Alcidamanta palaestra exercens, 
membra eius ad pugnandum composiusse: "ipse deus posuitque 
manus, et brachia rinxit" '. clausis membris obviously refers to 
the position of the combatant, but it means more than compositis, 
coercitis. Note the description of the combat between Paris and 
Menelaus, II. Lat. 294-7: 

'turn adversus uterque 
constitit et galeam galea terit et pede plantam 
coniungit, stridetque mucro mucrone corusco. 
corpus collectum tegitur fulgentibus armis'. 
The clue to our passage is to be found in corpus collectum tegitur 
. . . armis. The body is contracted and covered by the 
shield when the warrior makesready to attack or beattacked. Cf. 
Verg. A. 1 2. 491 , 'substitit Aeneas et se collegit in arma' and A. 10. 
412, 'seque in sua colligit arma*. As commentary to the latter 
passage Serving writes, 'post scutum se elausit'. The meaning of 
clausis membris is thus disclosed. The body is held in readiness 



covered by the shield. For the active use of claudo in this signifi- 
cation cf. Stat. Th. 4. 350, 'nulli destringere ferrum — impetus, 
aut umeros clipeo clausisse paterno'. 

180. simul, simul: intended to emphasize the agility of Piso 
who eludes and almost instantaneously attacks his opponent. 
captare: used of a successful thrust. Cf. II. Lat. 300, 'utque 
diu rigido captabant corpora ferro'. 

1 81 f. orbes plectis: descriptive of the circling about of the 
combatants. Cf. Verg. A. 12. 743, 'et nunc hue, inde hue incertos 
implicat orbes'. 

183. scrutaris pectora: Wernsdorf explains scrutaris as 
meaning to search out with the eye a point of attack. But 
scrutor is used of the actual plunging of the sword into the body, 
the sword being said to explore the vitals. Cf. Luc. 8. 557, 'quid 
viscera nostri — scrutaris gladio'. Our poet then uses scrutaris 
of a thrust which would be fatal were it not a mock combat. 
Martyni-Laguna considers scrutaris too farfetched for such a con- 
test. But the language of a real combat is appropriately main- 
tained. Cf. percutis v. 184. 

184. necopino . . . ictu: cf. Stat. Th. 6. 781, 'ilium 
rigida arma caventem — avocat ac manibus necopinum interserit 
ictum'. 

185 ff. The description of a ball game which follows is of interest 
in that it adds to the technical terms found in other writers. The 
game of ball was considered by the Romans wholesome for body 
and mind, and was indulged in by men of all ages. Even the 
emperor Augustus took exercise wi h the pila and folliculus (Suet. 
Aug. 83). Various kinds of balls, such as the harpastum, the 
follis, and the trigon or pilatrigonalis, were used in different games. 
Wernsdorf (Excur. 10) thinks that our passage is descriptive of a 
game with the follis, a wind bag which was tossed about among a 
circle of players. Becker, Gallus. 3. p. 101, states that in no case 
can the follis be meant, as it was not caught with the hands. Yet 
he does not think the game here described can be referred to either 
the trigon or harpastum. Becker believes that in this passage a 
striking of the ball backwards and forwards is alluded to, and this 
he is unwilling to admit as a part of the game of trigon. Mar- 
quardt (Privatleben d. Rom. p. 843) notes that the author of the 
Laus Pisonis is not describing a new kind of game but merely 
using new terms. There is indeed nothing in the passage incon- 

79 



sistent with the method of playing trigon. Three players stood 
at the angles of an equilateral triangle, each with a pila trigonalis, 
and the balls were kept going between the three. The striking 
of the ball, as well as catching and throwing, was a part of the 
game. Cf. Mart. 14. 46: 

'si me mobilibus nosti expulsare sinistris, 
sum tua, tu nescis? rustice, redde pilam'. 
The expression expulsare, which according to Becker signified no 
more than throwing the ball, has been generally accepted as mean- 
ing to strike the ball either back to the sender or sideways to the 
third player. (See Becker-Goll, Gallus 3. p. 178; Becq de 
Fouquieres, Les Jeux des Anciens p. 206; Smith, Diet, of Ant. 
3. 423). The player who in the course of the game dropped the 
ball least was probably the winner. 

185 f. volantem . . . geminare pilam: to repeat the 
flight of the ball, i. e. to send back the ball. The ordinary terms 
for throwing the ball back to the sender are reddere and remitiere. 
But geminare is opposed as a separate action to revocare cadenttem 
et . . . redder e. It therefore probably means to strike the 
ball back to the sender. Seneca, Ben. 2. 17, uses repercuttre to 
describe this stroke, when the ball is struck with the palm of the 
hand without being first caught and then thrown: Volo Chry- 
sippi nostri uti similitudine de pilae lusu, quam cadere non est 
dubium aut mittentis vitio aut excipientis; turn cursum suum 
servat, ubi inter manus utriusque apte ab utroque et iactata et 
excepta versatur ... si cum exercitato et docto negotium 
est, audacius pilam mittemus; utcumque enim venerit, manus 
illam expedita et agilis repercutiet'. The passage quoted makes 
use also of other technical terms, such as mittere and iactare, to 
throw the ball, and excipere, to catch the ball, volantem . . . 
geminare pilam is obviously an unusual expression. We may 
compare the use of geminate in Luc. 7. 481: 

'excepit resonis clamorem vallibus Haemus 
Peliacisque dedit rursus geminare cavernis'. 
In this passage geminare probably means to send back, to re-echo, 
to reverberate. We find repercutere also used with the meaning to 
reverberate, resound. Is it possible that our poet has used geminare 
as the equivalent of repercutere, seeking an unusual term for a 
customary expression? 

186. revocare cadentem: to recover the ball when its fall 
seems imminent. 

So 



187. et non sperato . . : to make a difficult catch and 
return the ball unexpectedly. 

188 f. The ball game, as an exercise which preceded bathing, 
took place in the palaestra attached to some public bath. 

189. iam: actually, even; adds to the force of subabunda. In 
the very midst of their own games and exercises men would leave 
off in order to watch the skillful performance of Piso. 

190. iuvat: the repeated use of this verb is monotonous. 
Cf. w. 59, 164, 186, 221. studiorum: the intellectual pursuits 
upon which the poet has dwelt in the first part of the poem. 

191. non languere: equivalent to mentem molliter recreate. 
A form of litotes. Since languere means to be idle, inactive, the 
force of non languere is not to be entirely inactive but to have some 
light diversion. The poet uses non languere instead of some 
stronger affirmative expression because the game in which Piso 
indulges is but a degree removed from the state denoted by 
languere. tamen: is used with reference to jessum: notwith- 
standing his tired condition, lususque movere per artem: 
to wage games of skill, movere is used frequently with bella and, as 
our poet describes the game which follows as if it were a battle, 
he is probably imitating this expression in lusus movere. 

192 ff. The description of the ludus latrunculorum in the follow- 
ing verses forms one of the chief passages to be found in Latin 
literature regarding this game of the ancients. While Piso's skill 
at such a game may seem a trivial subject to be dwelt upon in the 
panegyric, if we are to believe the scholiast to Juvenal, 5. 109, he 
was indeed so famed for it that people gathered to watch him play: 
'in latrunculorum lusu tarn perfectus et callidus ut ad eum luden 
tern concurreretur'. Praise for dexterity in such games was not 
considered unworthy of the great men of antiquity. P. Mucius 
Scaevola was likewise famed for his skill in playing ball and duo 
decim scripta a game comparable to backgammon (Cic. De Or. 
1. 50; Quint. Inst. 11. 2. 38). The ludus latrunculorum most 
resembled modern draughts, or checkers, being played with pawns 
upon a board divided into squares. Cf. Varr. L. L. 10. 22, 'ad 
hunc quadruplicem fontem ordines deriguntur bini, uni trans- 
versa alteri derecti, ut in tabula solet in qua latrunculis ludunt'. 

192. tabula . . . aperta: the board was called tabula 
latruncularia. Cf. Sen. Ep. 117. 30, 'nemo, qui ad incendium 

81 



domus suae currit, tabulam latrunculariam prospicit, ut sciat, 
quomodo alligatus exeat calculus'. From the expression tabula 
aperta it has been judged possible by Becq de Fouquieres (Les 
Jeux des Anciens, p. 445) that the ancients possessed folding card 
tables such as those of to-day. But tabula aperta is merely the 
euivalent, in the terms of this miniature battle, of campo aperto, 
a phrase frequently used in descriptions of military combat. 
variatur: is moved about here and there. 

193 calculus: a general name applied to the counter or 
pawn. It is a pseudo-diminutive of calx, which occurs in Plaut. 
Poen. 908: 

Sy. 'profecto ad incitas lenonem rediget, si eas abduxerit'. 

Mi 'quin priu' disperibit faxo quam unum calcem civet-it' . 
But calx as a name for the pawn is rare, though in the proverbial 
expression, ad incitas redigere, to reduce to a dead block, calces is to 
be supplied. Cf. Plaut. Poen. 907 above. As technical names 
for the pieces used in the ludus latrunculorum we find latrones (Ov. 
A. A. 3. 357; Mart. 14. 20. i; 7. 72. 8) and latrunculi (Sen. Ep. 
106. 11; Yur. L. L. 10. 22; Plin. 8. 215). Becq de Fouquieres 
(op. cit. pp. 431-5) is of the opinion that there was a distinction 
between latrones and 1'ittunculi, the latrones being the superior 
pieces, the latrunculi, the inferior. We learn from Isid. Orig. 18. 
67, that the pawns with which each player was equipped were 
divided into two classes, each possessing different powers and 
hence of different values: 'calculi partim ordine moventur, 
partim vage: ideo alios ordinarios, alios vagos appellant; at 
vero qui moveri omnino non possunt, incitos dicunt'. There 
then the two classes, the ordinarii and the vagi. The ordi- 
nary i were moved ordine, square by square in one direction, 
probably only perpendicularly to th s base of the board Cf 
Tr. 2. 477, 'discolor ut recto grassetur limite miles'; Isid. Orig. 
18. 62, 'item calculi, quod per vias ordinales eant, quasi per 
calles'. The poft were moved in any direction, both diagonally 
and perpendicularly. Becq de Fouquieres would identify the 
ordinarii of Isidorus' description with the latrunculi, the vagi with 
the latrones. He suggests that the full name of the game would 
have been ludus latronum et latrunculorum. But we do not find 
mention of both latrones and latrunculi in the same passage, 
latrones being used by the poets, latrunculi by the prose writers. 
This implies that latrones was merely a poetical substitution for the 



unwieldy diminutive latrunculi. latro meant primarily a mer- 
cenary, or hired soldier, and is so used by Plautus (cf. M. G. 949). 
It later acquired the meaning of freebooter, highwayman. Cf. 
Paul, ex Fest. p. 105 Lind: 'latrones antiqui eos dicebant, 
qui conducti militabant, dirb ttjs Xarp&as at nunc viarum 
obsessores dicuntur, quod a latere adoriuntur, vel quod latere 
insidiantur'. It is probable that the diminutive latrunculi was 
formed from latro and applied to the pieces of the game before 
this secondary meaning of latr > had developed. The poets return 
to latro for metrical considerations, though they use miles and 
bellator freely in its stead (cf. vitreo milite below). The idea of 
freebooting was not, however, unsuited to the nature of the game 
and Ovid apparently so associates latro when he says, A. A. 2. 
207: 

'sive latrocinii sub imagine calculus ibit, 
fac pereat vitreo miles ab hoste tuus!' 

In the long description of this game given by our poet there is 
no distinction of names though it is evident that the pawns per- 
form different functions (cf. v. 198, longo venit ille recessu, etc.). 
Ov. A. A. 3. 359 offers additional testimony that there were on 
each side, as Isidorus says, pieces of different values: 

'bellatorque sua prensus sine compare bellat'. 
But we can not accept the conclusion of Becq de Fouquieres (so 
also of W. Wayte, Smith, Diet, of Ant.) that latrones and latrun- 
culi were the names applied to these two different classes (see note 
to v. 203 below), vitreo . . . milite: the pawns were 
commonly of glass. Cf. Ov. A. A. 2. 208, quoted above, and 
Mart. 7. 72. 8, vitreo latr one. Sometimes they were made of 
ivory; sometimes gems, which may have been imitation jewels of 
glass, were used. Cf. Juv. 11. 132, 'adeo nulla uncia nobis — est 
eboris, nee tessellae, nee calculus ex hac — materia'; Mart. 14. 20, 
'insidiosorum si ludis bella latronum — gemmeus iste tibi miles et 
hostis erit'. 

194. niveus . . . niger: the men on each side were 
different in color. Cf. Ov. Tr. 2. 477, discolor . . . miles, 
and Sid. Ep. 8. 12. 5, tabula calculis strata bicoloribus. They may 
also have been different in shape. Becq de Fouquieres {op. cit. 
p. 437) cites Plin. 8. 54. 215 to prove that the counters sometimes 
took the form of figurines, but the reading icones, upon which he 
bases his conclusion, is doubtful. He further cites Suet. Ner. 22, 

83 



a passage doubtful as to interpretation: 'sed cum inter initia 
imperii eburneis quadrigis cotidie in abaco luderet'. nigros 
. . . albos: Wernsdorf explains: 'dicit autem albos, quia 
unus calculus poterat duos discolores alligare'. But the emphasis 
is not felt upon the plural nor is the thought one white pawn blocks 
two black ones, etc. as Wernsdorf suggests. The poet merely 
means that now white checks black, now the black, the white. 
alliget: a technical term, meaning to check or block the course 
of the enemy's man, but not necessarily to reduce it to a position 
from which it could not be extricated. Cf. the passage in Sen. 
Ep. 117. 30, (quoted above) 'quomodo alligatus exeat calculus'. 
The object of the game was to reduce to a dead block or take as 
many of the adversary's pieces as possible. It appears that a man 
caught between two of his adversaries was lost. Note the 
description of the Greek *-6\etj a game similar to the Indus latrun- 
culorum, in Pollux. 9. 98 'Siyp-qntvuv Si eis 860 tQv \j/J)<pup Kara t6.s 
XP^os, i) t4x"V ttjs rcuSiay iari irepi\J)\fet 860 \p^<puv biioxpbw ttjv 
(Tepdxpovv ai>e\etv . 

Becq de Fouquieres (op. cit. p. 442) is of the opinion that a man so 
caught was lost only in case he could not extricate himself. But 
the evidence tends to show that merely by being caught between 
two opponents the pawn was lost. Cf. Mart. 14. 17: 

'calculus hac gemino discolor hoste perit'. 
Ov. A. A. 3. 358: 

'unus cum gemino calculus hoste perit, 
bellatorque sua prensus sine compare bellat, 
aemulus et coeptum saepe recurrit iter'. 
Ov. Tr. 2. : 

'cum medius gemino calculus hoste perit, 
at mare velle sequens sciat et revocare priorem 
nee tuto fugiens incomitatus eat'. 
Not only do Ovid and Martial state that a pawn so situated as to 
be between two enemies is lost, but Ovid lays great emphasis 
upon the perilous condition of a pawn which is unaccompanied. 

195. te duce: each player was the leader or general of his 
forces, i. e. the pawns. The military terms are continued through- 
out in realistic fashion. 

196. periturus perdidit hostem: Wayte (Smith, Diet. 0} 
Ant.) explains thus: 'Piso sacrificed pieces which his opponent 
could not take without suffering a greater loss', periturus does 



not, however, necessarily mean that Piso had to sacrifice a piece, 
but that he was on the point of losing it and would have lost it 
had he not exercised great skill. By an ingenious move he extri- 
cated himself from danger and at the same time put his opponent 
in a position where he must sacrifice a man. Such seems to be 
the best interpretation of the passage. The fut. act. participle 
is used, not to denote something which was impending and bound 
to happen, but something which was likely to happen and would 
have happened under certain conditions (Helm, Quaest. Syntact. 
de Particip. Usu. p. yj). Cf. Luc. 9. 611, 'ut aspexit perituros 
fonte relicto'. 

197 ff. ILLE (197) . . . ILLE (198) . . . HIC (199) 

. . . ille (201) . . . hic (202): In a series of this kind 
the poets choose their pronouns with great liberty and apparently 
without regard to symmetry. Cf. Juv. 3. 69, hic . . . hic 
. . . hic . . . ille . . . hic. For further illustra- 
tions see Wolfflin, Archiv 12, p. 245. 

198. rapit: Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 293) proposes 
to read capit on the analogy of captare petentem, v. 180. But 
rapit seems to be used with especial reference to the tactics of the 
game. One piece, figuratively speaking, snatches or carries away 
as his prey (cf. praedam v. 200) the opposing piece when it is 
caught and must be taken from the board, longo . . . 
recessu: from a distant corner. This pawn has evidently been 
stationed on one of the back rows of the board. It is probable 
that the superior pieces, the vagi, occupied the back rows with the 
inferior ranged before them. They were then moved up as needed 
to the help of th ;ir subordinates, longus is equivalent to longin- 
qicus. Cf. Luc. 3. 477, 'quae prius ex longo nocuerunt missa 
recessu'. 

200. in praedam venientem: advancing upon his prey. 
decipit: foils, circumvents. 

201. ancipites . . . moras: one piece undergoes a 
double attack, mora is apparently the technical term for check 
or attack, similisque ligato: Becq de Fouquieres (op. cit. 
p. 449) gives a diagram to show how one piece may be en prise of 
two opposing pieces but by a further move may put two enemies 
in a dangerous position. Wayte (Smith, Diet, of Ant.) disagrees 
with this interpretation: 'As we explain it he is not really en 
prise of two pieces but places himself between them, so that he 

8S 



attacks both, while either could take him if it were not for the 
other; he is similis ligato but not ligatus; the well-known 
manoeuvre called the lunette at draughts, and a further point of 
resemblance with the modern game'. The explanation of Wayte 
is based upon a move possible in checkers, that of Becq de 
Fouquieres, upon the game as he reconstructs it, which bears 
some resemblance to chess, some to checkers. The comparison 
with checkers can not be pressed too far since, as we have shown 
above, in the Indus latrunculorum a. pawn was sacrificed when 
caught between two opposing counters. This is essentially 
different from checkers, in which a pawn is taken by jumping. 
Knowing so little as we do of the rules of the ludus latrunculotum 
it is useless to try to formulate possible moves. 

202. obligat ipse duos: according to the explanation of 
Becq de Fouquieres ancipites subit . . . moras and obligat 
ipse duos represent two successive moments, the attack and 
counter attack. But there is but one action denoted. The 
counter is moved to a position where it is apparently checked by 
two opposing counters, but it itself while in this position (similis 
ligato) checks two men. ad maiora movetir: is inspired to 
greater exploits. 

203. effracta . . . mandra: effractu is a simple and 
obviously correct emendation for the reading etfracta of the Sichard 
text, mandra is a word difficult of interpretation. It is borrowed 
from the Greek fj-dvSpa, a fold or stable, and lives to-day in the 
Italian mandra (mandria), a herd or place for herds. In its use 
in Latin it seems also to have been carried over from the place for 
th s herd to the herd itself. Cf. Mart . 5. 33. 7: 

'vixque datur longas mulorum rumpere mandras 

quaeque trahi multo marmora fune vides'. 
Juv. 3. 237: 

*et stantis convicia mandrae 

eripient somnum Druso, vitulisque marinis'. 
The scholiast to Juvenal explains mandra as locus in quo porci 
includuntur. L. Traube (Philol. 54 p. 132) is of the opinion that 
mandra in Latin was applied exclusively to the sheep fold or flock 
of sheep, and he would therefore emend the reading porci of the 
scholiast to pecora. As proof of his opinion he adduces the glossar. 
Amplonian. 2 (Goetz 5. 309) in which mandra is explained as cauUi 
jmum, and cites the use of mandra by the Christian writers, as 

86 



Bede, Mirac. Cuthberti 4. 16, 'discite, pastores, vigili tutamine 
mandris — insidias noctis furvosque cavere leones'. We can, 
however, scarcely understand the passage in Martial, longas 
mulorum . . . mandras, to be, as he says, merely a witty 
comparison. The most probable conclusion is that mandra was 
originally a general word to denote an enlosure for domestic 
animals, cattle, sheep, or swine, and was then transferred to a 
herd or drove of animals. Being thus vague in its ordinary use it 
is naturally uncertain in its application to the Indus latruncu- 
lorum. That it is a technical word connected with the game is 
shown not only by this passage but by Mart. 7. 72. 8: 
'sic vincas Noviumque Publiumque 
mandris et vitreo latrone clausos'. 
Becq de Fouquieres {op. cit. p. 440) explains that the word was 
applied to a square Occupied by a pawn since the pawn in moving 
to the square transformed it into a sort of redoubt, mandrae 
might then, he thinks, be applied to a row of pawns though 
strictly designating the squares thus occupied. To this explana- 
tion we may make the objection that there is really nothing in the 
square in which each counter stands which partakes of the nature 
of a protection or redoubt, and unless otherwise defended the 
pawn may easily be captured. L. Traube suggests that in 
mandra we have a term which is to be explained by comparison 
with the German Festungsspiel. In this game the board is marked 
off in the form of a cross, the cross being formed by 33 points with 
connecting lines. One arm of the cross is called the fortress and 
is defended by two soldiers. The rest of the board is held by 24 
men whose duty it is to try to occupy the 9 points forming the 
fortress. Traube would explain mandra as the designation, in the 
ludus latrunculorum, of the fortress occupied by the latrones on 
each side at the beginning of the game, from which fortress they 
made their sallies and into which they sought to pen the opposing 
counters. It is true that the description given in v. 204 in terms 
of a siege suggests in name at least the Festungs = or Belagerungs- 
spiel. Yet the evidence of the rest of the passage tends to show 
that the poet is merely extending his metaphors drawn from mili- 
tary tactics. We have seen how mandra came to be applied to 
a herd or drove of animals. It might easily be transferred to a 
group of pawns. In fact it is apparent that such must be its 
meaning in effracta mandra. It has been suggested that it was 

87 



applied especially to the crowd of inferior pawns who were drawn 
up in front of their superiors (Wernsd. Excur. II; Becker-Goll, 
Gallus, p. 471). This is apparently the correct interpretation. 
In deiecto vallo v. 204 we find the parallel to effracta mandra. The 
mandra was then something to be compared to a protecting ram- 
part. This could be nothing else except the rows of inferior 
pawns. The mandra of each player would therefore include the 
class called the ordinarii by Isidorus, while the latrones would 
correspond to the vagi. This explanation of mandra is supported 
by the passage in Martial, mandris et vitreo latrone clausos, in 
which the mandrae and latrones are obviously mentioned as two 
different classes. 

204. clausaque . . . MOEMA: Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 
1862, p. 293) has failed to grasp the picture presented by clausa 
moenia and deiecto vallo: 'Auffallend ist ferner v. 204 . . . 
das Epitheton clausa: denn die Mauern umschlieszen doch eher 
als dasz sie umschlossen oder geschlossen werden — und wodurch 
sollen sie dieses? Wenn etwa durch den Wall — der aber jetzt 
nicht mehr existiert, deiectum est — so ware dies eine sonderbare 
Ausdrucksweise : denn das Epitheton musste doch eher den 
Zustand der moenia nach dem Herunterwerfen des Walles 
bezeichnen'. On the basis of such reasoning he proposes quassa- 
que . moenia. clausa moenia does not mean, as he 

thinks, the enclosed walls but the closed walls, i. e. walls with gates 
closed to hostile approach. The counters of Piso's opponent are 
represented as an army entrenched within a city whose walls are 
closed against attack. Piso's counter, metaphorically speaking, 
breaks through the outside rampart (deiecto vallo) and penetrates 
to their very stronghold. For the use of clausa moenia in the 
description of a city under siege cf. Luc. 3. 373. 

205 f. sectis . . . militibls: the divided ranks. It is to 
be assumed that Piso follows up this first counter, which has led 
the way and split the ranks of the enemy, with other counters, 
and thereupon battles are fought on every side. 

207. aut etiam: the reading of Sichard, though marked with 
an asterisk. Baehrens writes aut tantum. etiam may be con- 
strued with pauco spoliata milite to show that Piso wins in any 
event, either with a full phalanx or even with the loss of a few 
men. The etiam might lead us to expect the poet to say, even 
with the loss oj many men. This may have lead to the verse being 

88 



marked in the Sichard text. But our poet would not wish to admit 
It possible for one of Piso's skill to suffer great losses. Hence 
etiam pauco . . . milite. 

208. et tibi captiva . . : at the end of the game Piso 
has his hands filled with the pieces which he has captured from 
his opponent. Thus we see that he who won the most of his 
opponent's pieces and, conversely, lost the fewest of his own was 
winner in the Indus latrunculorum. For further evidence cf . Sen. 
Tranq. 14. 7, 'ludebat latrunculis, cum centurio agmen perituro- 
rum trahens ilium quoque excitari iuberet. vocatus numeravit 
calculos et sodali suo: "vide" inquit "ne post mortem meam 
mentiaris te vicisse"- turn annuens centurioni: "testis" inquit 
"eris uno me antecedere" '. From Vopisc. Procul. 13. 2 it appears 
that the winner of the game was called imperator: 'nam cum in 
quodam convivio ad latrunculos luderetur atque decies imperator, 
exisset'. resonat: the pawns, being glass, rattle in his hands. 

209. emenso . . . Olmypo: Olympus is used poetically 
for the sky, as Verg. E. 6. 86, 'et invito processit Vesper Olympo'. 
versetur: would turn itself; a middle use. We may supply 
retro. The sun having traversed the vault of the sky would turn 
in its course at the close of the day. The conception is of the sun 
going back beneath the earth to its starting point. Cf. Lucret. 
5. 644: 

'tempore item certo roseam natura per oras 
aetheris auroram differt et lumina pandit, 
aut quia sol idem, sub terras ille revertens, 
anticipat caelum radiis accendere temptans'. 

213. certus: with confidence. Cf. Verg. A. 9. 96, 'certusque 
incerta pericula lustret'; Aug. Civ. 19. 14, 'opus habet magisterio 
divino cui certus obtemperet'. complectere: to accept with 
favor, cherish. Stronger in force than accipe. Cf. Liv. 34. 58. 3, 
'ut et Romanis ius sit . . . amicitias et tueri, quas habeant, 
et novas complecti'. 

214. quod si digna . . : with the thought of vv. 214-5 
cf. Tib. 4. 1. 3: 

'at meritas si carmina laudes 
deficiunt: humilis tantis sim conditor actis, 
nee tua praeter te chartis intexere quisquam 
facta queat, dictis ut non maiora supersint. 
est nobis voluisse satis, nee munera parva 
respueris'. 
So also Propertius, 3. 1.6, says: 'in magnis et voluisse sat est'. 

89 



2 1 6. tu modo laetus ades: the poet adroitly invokes the 
favor of Piso as though he were a god. So Vergil invokes 
Maecenas, G. 2. 39: 

'tuque ades inceptumque una decurre laborem, 
o decus, o famae merito pars maxima nostrae'. 

217. vires dabit . . . favor: cf. Lucan's address to 
Nero, I. 66, 'tu satis ad vires Romana in carmina dandas'. 

219. divitis auri: cf. Tib. 1. 10. 7, 'divitis hoc vitium est 
auri'. 

220. imperiosa fames: overmastering greed. Cf. Verg. A. 
3. 57, auri sacra fames. 

221. impulerint: impulerant is the reading of Sichard. 
Wernsdorf suggests that impulerunt should be read, and this con- 
jecture is adopted in the text of Baehrens. The Paris MSS., 
according to Baehrens' collation, offer impulerit, though Roth, 
who was the first to collate MS. 17903, ascribes to it the reading 
impulerint (Philol. 1861, p. 344). The latter is probably the 
correct reading. The imperative dignate (v. 218) supplies a 
future condition to which impulerint forms the apodosis: ij thou 
dost deign to open thy home to me, no love of gain will have been my 
instigator, hut the loir of fame. Similar paratactic constructions 
are to be seen in Cic. Tusc. 1. 30, 'tolle hanc opinionem, luctum 
sustuleris', Or. 232, 'immuta paululum . . . perierit tota 
res'. The fut. perf. impuhrint is used to specify a future result, 
since the truth of the p<u >n will become apparent only 
in case Piso heeds his entreaty, laldis amor: cf. Ov. Tr. 
5- 12.38: 

'denique non parvas animo dat gloria vires 
et fecunda facit pectora laudis amor. 

222 f. CUMQIE TlIS VIRTITIIHS . . . CERTARE: the poet's 

words are well chosen. If he is favored by Piso he promises to 
extol the merits of his patron in a way that will do him justice. 
For the thought cf. Tib. 4. 1. 191, 'non te deficient nostrae 
memorare Camenae'. 

233. SUBLIMIOB IBO: these words recall Hor. C. 1. 1. 36, 
'sublimi feriam sidera vertice'. 

224. iamae . . . pandis iter: imitated, according to 
Schenkl (praef. 7. Calpumii et Xemesiani Bucolka), by Statius, 
Th. 12. 812, 'iam certe praesens tibi fama benignum — stravit iter', 

90 



and this in turn by Nemesianus, Eel. i. 84, 'iamque hie in silvis 
praesens tibi fama benignum — stravit iter'. 

226. cultore: cf. Lucan's use of scrutator, 4. 298: 'non se 
tarn penitus, tarn longe luce relicta — merserit Asturii scrutator 
pallidus auri'. inerti: used to describe portu because within 
the sheltered harbor the waves are more sluggish. The adjective 
also helps to emphasize the state of inaction of a ship which 
remains in inerti portu. 

228. armamenta: though a general term for the tackle of a 
ship it frequently excludes the sails, as Caes. B. G. 3. 14. Such 
seems to be its use here since there is especial mention of the vela 
(v. 229). 

229. et: this conjunction has been deemed superfluous inas- 
much as que unites the two verbs gerat and possit, and the two 
ablatives are interpreted as different in kind, and hence not to be 
connected by et. Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 293) sets 
forth this view, explaining that teretique malo is to be taken with 
fiuentia, excusso rudente with the verb. He proposes two possible 
emendations, but they have nothing to recommend them. 
Baehrens writes possit ab excusso dimittere . . . rudenti. It 
is the position of the participle fiuentia that has lead Maehly and 
others to interpret malo as dependent upon it, yet such is not 
necessarily the construction of malo. It is quite possible to inter- 
pret the two ablatives as of the same kind and rightly connected 
by et if they are construed with the verb. For this the reading 
demittere of the Paris MSS. is to be preferred to dimittere of the 
Sichard text. We may render thus: and can let down from the 
rounded mast and untied ropes the flowing sails. Mast is thus used 
loosely for antennae. Cf. Ov. M. 11. 477, 'cornuaque in summa 
locat arbor e totaque malo — carbasa deducit'. We are to picture 
the sail as rolled up and fastened to the mainyard from which it is 
let down when occasion demands. The ancients appear to have 
brailed up their sails to reduce the area exposed to the wind. 

232. Romano . . . ore: cf. v. 89. 

233 f. A charming way of saying that Vergil would have 
remained in obscurity, nemoris . . . quod canit: refers 
to the Eclogues of Vergil. Cf. Eel. 1. 1-6; 6. 1-8. 

237. permisit numina: numina is the reading of Sichard, 
while the excerpts offer the impossible nomina. numina is so 

91 



unsatisfactory that various emendations have been offered. 
Lachmann (Haupt, Opus. 3. 416) thought that the poet must have 
written carmina and had reference to Verg. E. 1. 9: 
'ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum 
ludere quae vellem calamo permisit agresti'. 
Guido Suster (Riv. di Fit. 19. p. 95-6) suggests the emendation 
omnia, though he admits that the last syllable of permisit thus 
loses its length by position. Baehrens writes somnia. Martyni- 
Laguna (Wernsd. P. L. M. vol. 4. p. 866) would explain numina 
thus: 'sua numina permisit est simpliciter se permisit'. 

238 f. TRAGICO QU ATIENTEM PULPITA GESTU . . . VARUM: 

Varum is the reading of the MSS. and of the Sichard edition, but 
the reference is obviously to Varius, friend of Vergil and Horace 
(cf. v. 242). Horace tells us that he was recommended to the 
circle of Maecenas by Vergil and Varius. -, 'optimus olim 

— Yergilius, post hunc Varius, dixere quid essem'. These three 
celebrated poets are also mentioned together by Martial as being 
under the patronage of Maecenas, 12. 4. 1 : 

'quod Flacco, Varioque fuit, summoque Maroni 
Maecenas, atavis regibus ortus eques, 

gentibus et populis hoc te mihi, Prisce Terenti, 
fama fuisse loquax chartaque dicet anus'. 
Varius was not only celebrated for his epic poetry but was 
renowned as a writer of tragedy. Quintilian, Inst. 10. 1. 98, says 
that his tragedy Tkyestes might stand comparison with any of the 
Crock tragedies. Cf. also Mart. 8. 18. 7 cessit Romani 

laude cothurni — cum posset tragico fortius ore loqui'. 

239 ff. The reading of this passage, which is that found in the 
Sichard text, appears almost hopeless. But the Paris h 
support this reading except for toantis, which is evidently a corrup- 
tion of Umantis, (MS. 17903 also reads alu instead of alta). 
Various emendations have been proposed. Haupt (Opus. I. 406) 
says that be thought the poet must have reference to C 

the freedman of Maecenas who, according to Suetonius, wrote 
plays of a novel sort which he called trabeataf. Following his 
suggestion Lachmann proposed the emendation: 'Maecenas 
apta togatis — emit et populis ostendit acumina Gai'. It need 
hardly be said that our poet would not mention the name of this 
obscure freedman along with the illustrious names of Vergil, 

92 



Varius, and Horace. Th. Birt (Rhein. Mus. 1877, p. 417) suggests 
a transposition of the verses as follows : 

Maecenas alta tonantis 
carmina Romanis necdum resonantia chordis 
emit et populis ostendit nomina Grais 
Ausoniamque chelyn grandis patejecit Horati. 
The whole passage he thinks must concern Horace. He explains 
the meaning thus: 'Maecenas eruit Graisque populis ostendit 
nomina eius qui carmina tonat alta necdum Romanis chordis 
resonantia'. Birt writes necdum instead of etiam, presumably 
because there is no explanation for etiam according to his arrange- 
ment. It seems doubtful as to whether a Latin poet would speak 
of the poems of Horace as Romanis necdum resonantia chordis. 
Weber has adopted Unger's conjecture ostendit carmina vatis, and 
thus too the w. Maecenas alta tonantis . . . patejecit Horati 
are all made to refer to Horace. As Maehly (Fleckeis. Jahrb. 
1862, p. 294) points out, it is improbable that the same poet 
would be characterized in v. 239 as alta tonans and in v. 242 as 
gracilis. Birt, in order to avoid this difficulty, has replaced 
gracilis with grandis (see above). Maehly maintains, with 
reason, (1) that Graiis must be kept since Romanis undoubtedly 
forms its opposite; (2) that Graiis is not to be joined with populis 
according to the previous conception but with chordis, which thus 
brings out the contrast; (3) that nomina must therefore give 
place to carmina. It is only thus that etiam between Romanis 
and chordis has its proper signification. Maehly proceeds, how- 
ever, to say that alta tonans must refer to Varius and that the 
poems of Greek and Roman sort are to be understood as his poems. 
Yet the repetition of Maecenas tends to show that a new thought 
is introduced: Maecenas . . . evexit Varium, Maecenas, 
etc. Buecheler (Rhein. Mus. 1881, p. 336) thinks that Propertius 
must have been included among the poets here mentioned and 
professes to see such reference in the manuscript reading alta 
tonantis . . . nomina, which he explains as follows: 'iam 
quid Maecenas eruit? alta Tonantis nomina, id est Jovis tutelae 
Augusti atque imperii Romani, antiqua haec nomina Romana 
fieri iussit etiam Romanis fidibus resonantia carmina ostenditque 
Graecis'. He cites the poems in the fourth book of Propertius in 
which he undertakes to sing of the holy rites and ancient names of 
places — 'sacra diesque canam et cognomina prisca locorum' 

93 



4. i. 69). It hardly seems possible that our poet would attempt 
to make mention of Propertius by alluding to his poems in so 
indirect and vague a fashion. 

239. tonantis: it is scarcely necessary to consider the read- 
ings Thoantis and Toantis found in the editions of Wernsdorf, 
Scaliger, and others, as they are apparents attempts to make a name 
out of the reading toantis which is preserved in the excerpts. 
Wernsdorf proposes sonantis as more suitable than tonantis, but 
tonantis may be used just as fittingly of the poet's speech. Cf. 
Prop. 3. 17. 40, 'qualis Pindarico spiritus ore tonat'. 

241. resonantia chordis: for the dative cf. Hor. S. 1.4. 76, 
'suave locus voci resonat conclusus'. 

242. Ausoxiamque chelyn: Horace, C. 4. 3. 23, speaks of 
himself as Romanae fidicen lyrae. gracilis . . . Horati: 
in the term gracilis there is certainly no disparagement of Horace. 
It is used rather to bring out the distinction between writers of 
lyric and epic poetry. Note the description given by Gellius, 
6. 14, of that poetry or oratory which was called gracilis: 'et in 
carmine et in soluta oratione genera dicendi probabilia sunt tria 
. . . uberi dignitas atque amplitudo est, gracili venustas et 
subtilitas'. 

243 ff. o dec is . . Wernsdorf understands these words 

to be addressed to Maecenas but they are more appropriately 
interpreted as an address to Piso. As a whole w. 243-5 form 
merely an exclamatory address comparable to Verg. A. 10. 506, 
'o dolor atque decus magnum rediture parenti!' 

245. iNori . . . senectae: cf. Verg. G. 1. 186, 'inopi 
metuens formica senectae'. 

246. quod sr. begins a new sentence. The sequence of 
thought is: thou art protector of bards; if then there is any 
room for my entreaties, etc. 

247. memorahii.is OUM: rw Kcned in future ages, the adjec- 
tive is used proleptically as it expresses the result of tu mihi 
. . . cantabere. 

249 f. Cf. Luc. 9. 980: 
'o sacer et magnus vatum labor, omnia fato 
eripis et populis donas mortalibus aevum'. 
250. si TAMBM . . the poet adds a modest restriction to 

his sweeping statement in v. 249. 

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251. deus ultor: apparently a general term used without 
especial application to any god or goddess. Cf. Tib. I. 8. 72, 
'nescius ultorem post caput esse deum'; Sen. Here. Fur. 385, 
'sequitur superbos ultor a tergo deus'; Ov. M. 14. 750, 'quam iam 
deus ultor agebat'. Ovid also speaks of the dei ultor es and men- 
tions Nemesis as separate from them, M. 14. 693, 'ultoresque deos 
et pectora dura perosam — Idalien memoremque time Rham- 
nusidis iram'. 

253. nanti: Martyni-Laguna proposes the reading vati- 
But the picture intended to be conveyed is that of an exhausted 
swimmer, perhaps the victim of a shipwreck, to whom a helping 
hand is extended. That the thought is almost proverbial is 
shown by Ovid, Tr. 2. 6. 11, who compares his unfortunate lot to 
the condition of a shipwrecked sailor with these words: 

'nunc mihi naufragio quid prodest discere facto, 

qua mea debuerit currere cumba via? 
bracchia da lasso potius prendenda natanti : 
nee pigeat mento supposuisse manum'. 
Cf. also Tr. 5. 9. 17: 

'naufragiumque meum tumulo spectarit ab alto, 
nee dederit nanti per freta saeva manum'. 

254 f. non humelis . . : the Sichard text and Paris MSS. 
agree in reading nos humilis domus et sincera patentum — sed tenuis 
fortuna, etc. This reading is obviously incorrect. Weber and 
Baehrens emend by reading at sincera instead of et sincera and et 
tenuis instead of sed tenuis. The verses thus read nos humilis 
domus, at sincera, parentum — et tenuis fortuna sua caligine celat. 
But the sed of manuscript authority could scarcely be a corruption 
of et. Furthermore the adversative shows that some contrasting 
statement has preceded. This contrast is effected by the change 
of nos to non, the non modifying humilis. non humilis is thus the 
equivalent of nobilis. The poet then says: a parentage of no 
humble rank, and pure, is mine, but a slender fortune enshrouds me 
in its mist. 

254. domus: sc. est. 

255. caligine: similarly used of obscurity in Veil. 2. 36. 1, 
'Augustus . . . omnibus omnium gentium viris magnitudine 
sua inducturus caliginem'. celat: sc. me. 

95 



26o. quamvis . . : Maehly (Fleckeis, Jahrb. 1862, p. 289) 
thinks that there is a logical inconcinnity in this sentence, that we 
have the concessive clause where we should expect some further 
reason for the assertion est mihi . . . animus constantior 
annis. But the sequence of thought is more clearly seen by plac- 
ing the concessive clause first : though the pride of youth but now 
begins to cover my cheeks and my twentieth year has not yet 
arrived, I have a mind riper than my years. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Baehrens, E — Poetae Latini Minores, vol. I., 1879. 
Birt, Th. — Ad Historiam Hexametri Latini Symbola, Bonn 1876. 

Ferrara, G. — Calpurnio Siculo e il panegyrico a Calpurnio 
Pisone, Pavia 1905. 

Haupt, M. — De Carminibus Bucolicis Calpurnii et Nemesiani, 
Opus. 1. p. 391, Leipzig 1875. 

Lemaire, N. E. — Poetae Latini Minores, vol. 3., Paris 1824. 

Maehly, J. — Zur Litteratur des Panegyricus in Pisonem, 
Fleckeis. Jahrb. 1862, p. 286. 

Scaliger, J. — Publii Virgilii Maronis Appendix, Lyons 1573. 

Schenkl, H. — Calpurnii et Nemesiani Bucolica, Leipzig 1885. 

Trampe, E. — De Lucani Arte Metrica, Diss. Berl. 1884. 

Unger, R. — P. Papinii Statii ad Calpurn. Pison. Poemation, 
Jahns Jahrb. 1836, p. 261. 

Weber, C. F. — IncertiAuctoris Carmen Panegyricum in Calpurn. 
Pison., Marburg 1859. Indices Lectionum, Marburg 1860/61. 
Wernsdorf, J. Ch. — Poetae Latini Minores, vol. 4., Altenburg 
I785- 

Wolfflin, E. — Zu dem Carmen panegyricum in Calpurnium 
Pisonem, Philol. 1861, p. 340. 



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